Quick Tips

How to Add a Block

There are three ways to add any type of block to your page. One is the blue button with the plus sign in it on the upper left of the page. The other two ways are to click on the three vertical dots to the far right of either the Block Toolbar or a block chosen in the List View to the left, which gives you a dropdown where you can insert a block before or after the current block. You can also duplicate a block here which makes and exact copy with all the content and settings preserved. All you need to do is change the content, and you have a new block with the same settings as the previous block. Learn more here.

How to add a Link, or make bold and italics:

In a Headline of Paragraph block, select the text you want to turn into a link and click on the hyperlink icon in the Block Tools. Enter the URL and press enter or return on your keyboard. To make text bold, select the text and click on the bold icon (B) in the editor toolbar. To make text italic, select the text and click on the italic icon (I) in the editor toolbar. More here.

I just want to change some text:

To change text in WordPress, navigate to the Pages area and open the page. Go to the block where the text is located, click on the block and make the desired edits. Be sure to hit Update in the Upper Right Corner of the editor. More on working with Pages here.

How do I cut and paste content from a Word doc or other material?

To cut and paste content from a Word document or other material into WordPress, copy the content from the source document. Then, in the WordPress editor, click where you want to paste the content and press Ctrl + V (Windows) or Command + V (Mac) to paste it. The content will come in with its formatting mostly intact! More on pages here.

How to add or change an image on a page:

To add images to pages on this site we use the Image Block that comes with the GenerateBlocks plugin. This gives you all of the controls you have with other types of GenerateBlocks elements, plus some settings specific to the image. Once chosen, you can upload a new image or select an existing one from the media library. Then you can style the image in any way you wish. Learn more here.

How to add Alt Text:

Alt Text or Alternative Text is text attached to an image that is read out loud by the page reader software often used by the blind or visually impaired. It was perhaps the first adaptive technologies and remains one of the most important. You can learn more in the Block Settings description under Image Blocks.

What does “Float Left or Float Right” mean?

“Float Left” and “Float Right” are options in WordPress to position an image or element to the left or right of the text. When an image is set to “Float Left,” the text will wrap around it on the right side. When set to “Float Right,” the text will wrap around the image on the left side. Learn more here.

How do I add or remove an image from a Photo Album?

Go to the Envira Gallery section and click to edit the gallery to which you wish to add an image. At the top of the page will be a large box surrounded by dashed lines. Inside are two options. The first is “Select Files from Your Computer.” This allows you to choose files stored on your local computer and upload them to the gallery. This automatically adds the files to the gallery and to the Media Library. The other option is “Select Files from Other Sources.”

A bit oddly named, this takes you the Media Library so you can select files that have been previously uploaded to the site and add them to the current gallery. Learn more here.

How do I add a newsletter?

To add a newsletter to the site takes a couple of steps. You need the Newsletter PDF and you need an image file (jpg or png) of the cover. You upload the PDF and the image to the Media Library and move them to the correct folders. Open the PDF in the Media Library and copy the URL. Go to the Envira Gallery “Newsletter Archive” gallery. Add the image from the Media Library and move it to the appropriate spot in the gallery. Open the metadata and replace the URL with the one you copied for the PDF.  You will also have to edit and update the Latest Issue page in the Pages Newsletter folder. Learn more here. 

How to undo something:

You can undo changes by clicking on the “Undo” arrows in the editor toolbar on the top left. If you are editing text in a content block, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Z (Windows) or Command + Z (Mac) to undo your most recent action. But avoid the keyboard commands if you’re trying to undo adding a block, etc. The Undo arrow is a better choice for this.

Oops, I made the wrong kind of block:

To change the block type in WordPress, select the block you want to change and click on the block type icon in the Block Toolbar. Choose the desired block type from the available options. Remember not all options are available for every block. You may need to insert a new block and start over. Learn more about adding blocks here.

How do I move a block on the page:

To move a block on the page in WordPress, click on the block you want to move and use the up or down arrows in the block toolbar to change its position. You can also click and drag the block to a new location. You can also use the list view to drag blocks up and down. This works well within a container, but moving things between blocks can be tricky, especially if there are grids involved. Sometimes it’s easier to just make a new block where you want it and copy the content into it. Learn more about adding blocks here.

There are no control settings on this block:

If a block in WordPress doesn’t have control settings, it means that either that particular block doesn’t offer any configurable options or you have used a standard WordPress block where you wanted a GenerateBlocks element. Some blocks have limited settings or are meant to display content without additional customization.

Why can’t others see my changes? (Caching):

If others can’t see your changes in WordPress, it could be due to caching. Caching is a technique used to improve website performance by storing a static version of your site. The caches update every few hours. But, sometimes multiple edits cause caches to get backlogged. When this happens, it’s time to manually “clear” any cache plugins or server-side caching systems, or ask others to clear their browser cache to see the updated version. You may need to have an administrator do this for you. If that’s not possible, just wait.

Oh boy, what a mess! Help me get out of trouble.

If you’ve made a mistake in WordPress, don’t panic—you can retrieve your most recent update. That’s why it’s important to regularly hit the Update button (in upper right corner) to save new edits, as you make them. If you find yourself in a mess just use the back button or Site Icon in the upper left corner to exit the page. You may get a prompt: “Leave the page? or stay?” Opt to leave. When you go back in, everything will be back to the state at which you last hit the Update button.

A box at page top says, “There’s an autosave of this post that’s more recent than the version below.”

This happens because someone exited the page without updating as described above. Normally you can safely X out of this box. It won’t come back once you hit Update. If you think you really do need to revert to an earlier version, it’s time to call in the cavalry. The autosave is neither easy nor intuitive to recover. Always remember, when you are doing something complicated, it’s good practice to work on a duplicate version of the page.