HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language, the standard markup language for creating web pages. As HTML does not create dynamic functionality, it is not a programming language, instead being categorised as a markup language.
HTML allows documents to be organized and formatted, building structures for web pages, including sections, paragraphs, headings, links and quotation marks. When you open your website in a browser, HTML is the language that tells the browser how to display your content.
That’s all good and well, but sometimes, you may want to edit the HTML on your WordPress website – here’s how you can do so.
How to edit HTML in WordPress pages
HTML is an integral part of your website, and you can use it to customize the source code of pages/posts or themes.
And actually, editing HTML to customize your page or post is usually safer than tampering with the HTML source code of the theme. WordPress provides you with standard functions and methods that allow you to customize them effortlessly.
The block editor, also known as Gutenberg, offers more options for editing HTML than the older classic editor, especially editing a block of a post. If you just want to insert a piece of HTML code into a page or post, the block editor can help you quickly without having to convert all your posts to HTML.
Step 1: Log in to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to your desired page or post.
Step 2: Click on the plus icon where you want to insert a new HTML code snippet to insert a new block.
Step 3: Click on Custom HTML
Step 4: Insert your new code snippets into the HTML block.
You can move this block up or down as required.
Step 5: Finally, click Preview to see what it will look like when you publish this HTML code. And when finished, click Save draft or Publish to save your changes.
Edit HTML of existing blocks
If you want to add HTML code to an existing block, the block editor offers you the option of converting existing blocks to HTML for editing.
Step 1: Navigate to the page or post you want to edit.
Step 2: Select the block you want to edit. A menu is displayed above the block.
Step 3: Click on the icon with the three dots to open further options. Select Edit as HTML to start your work.
Step 4: The selected block is converted to HTML format. Here you can add or edit HTML code fragments.
Step 5: When you are finished, click outside the block so that the dialog appears.
Edit HTML of the entire page or post
If you want to edit the HTML code of your entire post, you should read this section.
Step 1: Navigate to the page or post you want to edit
Step 2: Click on the three vertical dots in the top right corner and then select Code editor.
After doing this, the entire post will then be converted to HTML.
Step 3: Edit the existing snippets or add your own snippets.
Step 4: Remember to Save or publish the draft so that your changes are not lost.
Use HTML to customize your WordPress widget
In addition to customizing pages and posts, you may want to customize your WordPress widget using HTML.
Step 1: Log in to your admin dashboard and navigate to Appearance > Widgets. A new screen will appear.
Step 2: Scroll down to see the Custom HTML section. Click on it and you will see a drop-down menu.
Step 3: Select the section you want to add your HTML code to and click Add Widget.
Step 4: A pop-up window will display the corresponding selected section. Here you can insert your HTML code snippet.
Step 5: Click on Save to apply your changes.
Conclusion
In general, using HTML to edit your WordPress page or post doesn’t require much effort, and the block editor provides you options for editing your post.
But as I said, editing HTML in your WordPress pages or posts is only part of what you can do with HTML. To make your WordPress site as awesome as you need it to be, you should also know the rest – editing HTML in the source code.
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