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WordPress has two editing layers. Use the block editor to change the text, images, and other content on an individual page or post. Use the Site Editor to change site-wide elements such as the header, footer, templates, colors, and typography—but only when a block theme is active.
Start with an existing page or post, learn the block controls, then identify your theme. That sequence lets you make useful edits immediately and tells you which design tools should be available.
Understand what you are editing
The menu you need depends on whether you are changing one piece of content or the design shared across the site.
| What you want to change | Where to edit it | What it affects |
|---|---|---|
| One page, article, landing page, or its content | Pages or Posts, then open the item | That individual page or post |
| Header, footer, page templates, site colors, or typography | Appearance > Editor | Multiple pages or the whole site, depending on the template or style you change |
| Design controls on a classic theme | Appearance > Customize and, where available, Appearance > Widgets | Theme-specific settings and widget areas |
The Site Editor is available only with a block theme. A classic theme does not show the Site Editor at Appearance > Editor; it uses the older Customizer and its theme-specific settings instead. Menu wording can differ slightly by WordPress version, so use the labels visible in your dashboard.
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Prepare before making changes
- Sign in with an account that can edit. If Pages, Posts, or Appearance menus are missing, your account may not have the required role or your hosting administrator may have restricted them.
- Identify the theme. Knowing whether it is a block theme prevents you from looking for a Site Editor that your current theme cannot provide.
- Know which content is live. Editing an existing page and selecting Update changes the published version. Use Save draft when you are not ready to publish.
- Keep a recovery option. If your site has backups, confirm that one is current before making broad template or style changes. A staging copy is safer for experiments than a live site.
- Check the front end after saving. Open the page in a separate browser tab, and check a private window if caching could hide a new version.
Edit an existing page or post
1. Open the content
- In the WordPress admin menu, select Pages for a regular site page or Posts for a blog article.
- Choose the item you want to change. Select Add New instead if you are creating content from scratch.
- Wait for the block editor to load. The title is a separate field at the top; the content area below is made from blocks.
A page is normally used for relatively permanent information such as About or Contact. A post is generally a dated article that appears in a blog feed. The editing controls are similar, so skills learned in one apply to the other.
2. Change text without changing the layout
Click inside a paragraph to place the cursor, then type, delete, or select text. Use the small toolbar that appears above the selected block for basic formatting. The settings panel on the right exposes additional options for the selected block; if it is hidden, open the editor settings control in the top toolbar.
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Keep each idea in the appropriate block rather than placing an entire page in one large paragraph. Separate paragraphs, headings, lists, quotations, images, and buttons can each be moved or configured independently.
3. Add a block
You have three normal insertion methods:
- Select the + block inserter in the top toolbar, search for a block, and choose it.
- Move between existing blocks and click the + button that appears at the insertion point.
- In an empty paragraph, type
/followed by a block name, such as/image, then select the suggested block.
When you are inside a Group, Row, or Stack block, an inserter can also appear at the lower-right edge of that container. That button adds a nested block without first leaving the layout.
4. Select and rearrange blocks
Click a block to select it. Its toolbar identifies the block type and provides actions such as moving, duplicating, or changing the block. For complex layouts, open List View in the top toolbar. List View displays the document as a hierarchy, making it easier to select a block hidden inside a row, column, group, or stack.
Use List View to find the exact block before changing it. This avoids accidentally editing a neighboring paragraph or moving an entire container when you intended to move only one item.
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Use a Heading block to create a section title, Paragraph blocks for normal text, List blocks for ordered or unordered items, Image blocks for pictures, and Button or Buttons blocks for calls to action. The inserter search is usually faster than browsing categories when you already know the block name.
For an image, insert an Image block and follow the media-selection controls shown by your installation. Add descriptive alternative text when the image conveys information, and keep decorative images from carrying the only copy of an important message.
For a link, select the relevant text and use the link control in the block toolbar. Check the destination before publishing, especially when replacing an old URL.
6. Save, preview, and publish
- Select Save draft while work is unfinished.
- Use the editor’s preview option to see the page outside the editing canvas. If your installation offers device previews, check the narrow view as well as the desktop view.
- When the content is ready, select Update for an existing published item or Publish for a new one.
- Open the public URL and verify the result. If the old version still appears, refresh the page and check whether a caching layer needs to be cleared.
Create a new page or post
Choose the correct content type
Select Pages > Add New for a standalone page or Posts > Add New for a new article. Enter a clear title, then add blocks in the order a reader should encounter them.
Build the structure first
- Enter the title.
- Add the main headings and a short paragraph under each one.
- Insert supporting blocks such as lists, images, tables, or buttons.
- Use List View to confirm that blocks are nested where you expect.
- Preview the draft before publishing.
Working from headings downward is useful because it exposes missing sections before you spend time polishing individual sentences or images.
Decide whether it belongs on the homepage
Creating a page does not automatically make it the homepage. WordPress sites can display a latest-posts feed or a designated static page, depending on the site’s reading setting. If you need to change the page that visitors see first, check the reading settings in your dashboard and identify which page is selected as the homepage, then edit that page through Pages. The exact setting labels can vary with the active version and configuration.
Check whether you have a block theme
The theme determines whether you can edit the whole site with the Site Editor. If Appearance > Editor is present, your active theme supports that interface. If it is absent, the active theme is usually classic or the account does not have permission to access the feature.
| Theme type | Whole-site design interface | Typical areas you edit |
|---|---|---|
| Block theme | Appearance > Editor | Templates, template parts, patterns, styles, headers, and footers |
| Classic theme | Appearance > Customize and theme-specific menus | Customizer settings, menus, widgets, and other controls supplied by that theme |
Older instructions may call the Site Editor “Appearance > Editor (beta).” Current WordPress documentation uses Appearance > Editor; follow the label shown in your own dashboard.
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Edit a block theme with the Site Editor
1. Open the editor
Go to Appearance > Editor. The opening screen presents the areas supported by the active block theme. The names and arrangement can change between WordPress versions and themes, but the main concepts are consistent.
2. Choose the right editing area
- Templates are page layouts, such as a single post, a page, an archive, or a search-results view. Changing a template can affect every item that uses it.
- Template parts are reusable sections such as a header or footer. Editing one changes the places where that part is used.
- Patterns are prepared arrangements of blocks. They help you insert a coordinated section instead of assembling every block manually.
- Styles control site-wide visual settings such as colors and typography. A style change can appear across many templates and pages.
Pick the template or template part before inserting a block. Editing a header template part is different from editing the content of one page: the former is shared, while the latter is local to that page.
3. Add and modify blocks
Use the + Block Inserter in the Site Editor toolbar to add blocks, patterns, media, or synced patterns. Select an existing block to expose its toolbar and settings. List View is especially valuable here because templates often contain nested groups, rows, and stacks.
4. Change the header
- Open the template or template-part area in the Site Editor.
- Select the header template part, or select the header directly in the template preview.
- Choose List View if you need to locate the site logo, title, navigation, or other nested block.
- Edit the existing blocks or insert new ones with the + inserter.
- Save the change and check more than one page type, because the same header may appear across the site.
5. Change the footer
Open the footer template part in the same way. Replace or rearrange its blocks, check links and contact details, then save. Because a footer is normally shared, verify a post, a page, and an archive if the theme uses different templates for them.
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Open Styles in the Site Editor. Choose the global color or typography controls provided by the theme, make one change at a time, and preview the result. Global settings are appropriate for a site-wide visual adjustment; a block-level setting is better when only one heading or section should look different.
7. Save at the correct scope
Before confirming a change, read the editor’s save panel carefully. A template-part change, a template change, and a style change have different reach. Save only after you understand whether the change applies to one page, one layout type, or the whole site.
Edit a classic theme
On a classic theme, the Site Editor is not available. Go to Appearance > Customize to use the Customizer controls supplied by that theme. You may find settings for the site identity, colors, menus, homepage behavior, and other options, but the exact controls are theme-dependent.
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Classic themes commonly expose widget areas through Appearance > Widgets. Select a widget area such as a sidebar or footer, then add, remove, or configure widgets as the interface allows. Do not look for this menu on a block theme: block themes remove the traditional Widgets screen and use patterns, template parts, and other Site Editor features instead.
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Patterns let you insert a prearranged group of blocks. They are useful for repeated page sections such as a callout, feature row, or signup panel. Insert a pattern, replace its text and media, and keep the surrounding layout intact.
If your installation offers synced patterns, treat them as shared components. A change to a synced pattern can update every place that uses it, while an unsynced copy can be customized independently. Read the confirmation or editing label before changing a repeated section so you do not unintentionally alter other pages.
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List View
List View gives you a tree of the current page, post, template, or template part. Use it to select a hidden nested block, confirm parent-child relationships, and move a complete section without dragging individual blocks one by one.
Command Palette
Some WordPress versions and guides provide a Command Palette for quickly searching editor actions. Keyboard shortcuts and the exact shortcut key can vary, so use the command-search control visible in your installation rather than relying on a shortcut remembered from another version.
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Common problems and fixes
“Appearance > Editor” is missing
- Confirm that the active theme is a block theme. A classic theme will not provide the Site Editor.
- Check that you are using an account allowed to edit the site design.
- Look for Appearance > Customize instead if the theme is classic.
- If documentation calls the feature “Editor (beta),” compare it with the current label in your dashboard.
The Widgets menu disappeared
This is expected on block themes. Edit the corresponding template part, pattern, or template in Appearance > Editor rather than searching for the old Widgets screen.
You changed a template and many pages changed
Templates are shared layouts. Reopen the template and inspect which pages or content types use it. If only one page needed a different arrangement, undo the template change and edit that page’s content or use a page-specific option supplied by the theme.
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A header or footer edit is not visible
- Confirm that you edited the template part actually used by the page you are viewing.
- Save the change at the end of the Site Editor workflow.
- Refresh the public page and check another page type.
- Clear or bypass cached content if the old version persists.
You cannot find a block control
First select the block itself, not its parent Group, Row, or Stack. Then open List View to verify the selection and inspect the block settings panel. A control can be hidden when the wrong level of the hierarchy is selected.
The editor looks different from a tutorial
WordPress labels, inserter behavior, and keyboard shortcuts change over time. Follow the controls shown in your own installation, and treat older screenshots as conceptual guidance rather than an exact map of today’s interface.
A safe editing routine
- Decide whether the change is local content or shared design.
- Open the matching menu: Pages/Posts for content, Appearance > Editor for block-theme design, or Appearance > Customize for a classic theme.
- Make one logical change at a time.
- Use List View to confirm the selected block or template part.
- Save as a draft or save the design change only after checking its scope.
- Preview the result and inspect the public page.
- Repeat the check on another page type when you changed a shared template, header, footer, or style.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit WordPress without writing code?
Yes. The block editor and Site Editor are visual interfaces built from blocks. Code can extend a site, but ordinary page, post, template, header, footer, and style changes can be made through the dashboard controls described above.
Why can I edit a page but not the header?
Page editing is available through the block editor on both theme families. Header editing depends on the theme: use the Site Editor’s header template part on a block theme, or the Customizer and theme-specific controls on a classic theme.
Will changing a page template rewrite my page text?
A template controls the layout around content; it does not normally replace the text blocks stored in the page. It can, however, change where that content appears and can affect every page assigned to the template.
What should I do if a saved change is not public?
Confirm that you selected Update or Publish, open the public URL, refresh it, and check for caching. If the change concerns a shared template part, verify that the page uses that part.
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Is the block editor the same thing as the Site Editor?
No. The block editor edits the content of an individual page or post. The Site Editor changes shared templates, template parts, patterns, and global styles on a block theme.
Where do I edit a WordPress homepage?
Edit the page selected as the homepage through Pages. If the site uses a static homepage, identify that page in the reading settings first; if it displays latest posts, edit the relevant posts and the template or theme settings controlling the feed.
Why is my WordPress site showing a Customizer instead of the Site Editor?
The active theme is likely a classic theme. Classic themes use Appearance > Customize, while Appearance > Editor is provided by block themes.
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