Writing and Publishing a Post

This page walks a member through the post composer: where to find it, what each part does, and what happens when you press the main button. The composer looks the same on every site. BuddyPress, BuddyBoss and PeepSo only change where the links to it live.

Open the composer

Use whichever link your site gives you:

• Create Post on your blog home (the My Blog Dashboard page, or the Blog tab on your profile when the site runs BuddyPress, BuddyBoss or PeepSo).
• Write a post or Write your first post in an empty post list.
• A “Write” or “Add new post” link the site owner put in the menu.

If you see a message that you cannot create posts, your role or member type is not on the site’s allowed list. Ask the site owner.

The first time you open the composer, a short Welcome - let’s write your first post panel explains where your post will appear and reminds you that Save Draft keeps your work. Press Got it to hide it. It stops appearing for good once you have saved your first post.

The layout

Area	What it holds
Writing column	Title (required) and Content, plus a line under the editor with the word count, character count and reading time.
Post settings sidebar	Everything about the post that is not the writing: categories, tags, featured image, publishing options and search settings.
Action bar	The main button, the secondary button and Preview. It stays at the bottom of the screen while you scroll, then settles under the form when you reach the end.

The editor in the Content area is chosen by the site owner. See Editor.js, Medium Editor or Classic Editor for how to write in each one.

The expand icon at the right of the word-count line turns on distraction-free writing, which hides everything except the writing. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+F (Cmd+Shift+F on a Mac). Press Escape or the icon again to leave it.

The Post settings sidebar

On desktop the sidebar sits beside the writing. It is split into sections you open and close with their headings. Category, tags and image is open the first time; the composer remembers which sections you keep open in this browser. A section only appears when it has something in it.

Section	What is in it
Category, tags and image	Category (choose one or more; a + button adds a new category when the site allows it), Tags (type a tag and press Enter or a comma), and Featured image (drag an image onto the box or click to browse). The box shows the allowed file types and the size limit; the recommended size is 1200 x 630 pixels.
Publishing	Visibility: Public, Private (only you, editors and administrators can read it), or Password protected with a Password field. Private appears only when your post goes live on publishing: if your posts go to review first, the choices are Public and Password protected. The site owner can remove the Private choice. Allow comments on this post (turning it off keeps existing comments visible and blocks new ones). With Pro Scheduling, the date and time for a scheduled post also live here.
Collaboration	(Pro) Co-author invitations and series selection, when those modules are on and you may use them.
Details	(Pro) The site’s custom fields, when the owner has defined any.
Search engines	Focus keyword, Meta description with a character counter (150 to 160 characters recommended), and the Search Preview. When the site runs Yoast SEO, Rank Math or All in One SEO, a line says the values are passed to that plugin.

On a phone

At 640px wide and below, the sidebar moves under the writing and collapses into a single Post settings button, closed when the page loads. Tap it to open all the sections. The action bar is pinned to the bottom of the screen, and Preview becomes an eye icon.

The search preview

The Search Preview shows roughly how the post appears in a search result:

• The title as you typed it.
• The web address. Until the post is saved, it follows your title as you type, on sites that use a post-name permalink structure. After the first save it shows the real address.
• Your meta description. If you leave it empty, the preview shows a prompt to add one.

Autosave and unsaved changes

When the site owner has Autosave drafts turned on (it is on by default), the composer saves your work about once a minute while you are typing. The status next to the buttons says Saved at and the time.

• A new post is autosaved as a draft once it has a title and some content. It then shows on your Drafts tab.
• A draft or a post waiting for review is autosaved in place.
• A published or scheduled post is never changed by autosave. See Editing a post after you submit it.

If you try to leave the page with changes that are not saved, the browser asks you to confirm.

The action bar

The buttons depend on whether you can publish directly. That is decided by one site setting: when the site owner holds member posts for review (the default on a new site), members submit posts and an editor approves them.

Button	Shown when	What it does
Publish	You can publish directly	Puts the post live straight away.
Submit for Review	The site reviews member posts	Sends the post to the editors. It is not visible to readers until approved.
Save Draft	New posts and drafts	Keeps the post as a draft. A draft may be saved with just a title.
Preview	Always	Opens the post as readers will see it, in a window with Close and Continue Editing.

Publishing or submitting needs a title and some content. If something is missing, the form tells you which field to fix and keeps what you wrote.

Some sites show notices above the writing before you start, for example a posting limit or your post credit balance (Pro). Read them first: they explain why a post may not publish.

After you submit

The page reloads with a notice that says what happened and offers the next step:

Notice	Next steps offered
Post Published!	View post, Write another
Published privately	View post, Write another
Submitted for Review!	See it in Pending, Write another
Draft Saved!	None. The notice says whether to publish or submit when you are ready, and closes by itself after a few seconds.
Post Updated! (a post that was already live)	View post
Post Scheduled! (Pro)	Back to dashboard, Write another

Close any notice with its X button.

Related

• Editing a post after you submit it
• Your blog home and managing your posts
• Reviewing member submissions - what happens on the editor’s side