To publish a post on WordPress, go to Posts → Add New Post, write your title and content, set a category and featured image in the right-hand sidebar, click Publish, then click Publish again in the confirmation panel. Pages work the same way from Pages → Add New Page. To publish the whole site (make it visible to the public), click Launch site under Settings → Reading on WordPress.com, or turn off "coming soon" mode and untick "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" on self-hosted WordPress.
This guide covers each of those, plus scheduling, unpublishing, the errors that stop the Publish button working, and the tools that post to WordPress for you.
Key takeaways
- Publishing a post takes two clicks on Publish. The first opens WordPress's pre-publish panel, the second makes the post live.
- Posts are dated entries that appear in your blog feed, categories and RSS; pages are timeless (About, Contact, Services) and sit outside the feed.
- Publishing a whole site is a separate switch from publishing posts. On WordPress.com it is Settings → Reading → Launch site; on self-hosted WordPress, check that search engine visibility is not discouraged.
- If you see "Submit for Review" instead of "Publish", your account has the Contributor role and an Editor or Administrator must publish the post.
- You can post to WordPress without the dashboard, by email (Jetpack), through the REST API with an application password, or with tools that publish for you, such as Outrank.
How to publish a post on WordPress
These steps are for the block editor, the default editor since WordPress 5.0. They work the same on self-hosted WordPress and WordPress.com.
- 1
Open a new post
In the dashboard, go to Posts → Add New Post. The block editor opens with an empty title. - 2
Write the title and content
Type the title, press Enter and start writing. Every paragraph, heading, image or list is a block; click + to add one, or type/followed by the block name (for example/image). - 3
Fill in the post settings
In the right-hand sidebar (click the square settings icon if it is hidden), open the Post tab: set the URL slug, a category, tags, a featured image and an excerpt. - 4
Preview it
Click the preview icon at the top right to check the post on desktop and mobile, or open it in a new tab. - 5
Click Publish twice
Click Publish at the top right. WordPress opens a pre-publish panel that confirms visibility and the publish date and suggests tags or a format. Click Publish again and the post is live, with a link to view it.
A few things that save time:
- Paste from Google Docs or Word. The block editor turns headings, lists, bold text and links into the right blocks. Images usually need re-uploading.
- Use H2 headings for sections and H3 for sub-points. The title is already the page's H1, so never add another one in the body. Our blog post format guide shows a structure that reads well.
- Fill in the image's alt text in the block sidebar. It is what screen readers and search engines read. Compress images before uploading; how to optimize images for the web covers the settings.
- Set the slug before you publish. WordPress builds it from the title, so
/how-to-repot-a-snake-plant-in-5-easy-steps-for-beginners/is common. Shorten it to the main keyword. Changing it after publishing breaks links unless you add a redirect.
How to publish a page on WordPress
Go to Pages → Add New Page, add a title and content, then click Publish twice, exactly like a post. Pages have no categories or tags; instead, the sidebar lets you choose a parent page (to build URLs like /services/web-design/) and, depending on your theme, a template.
A published page is not automatically in your menu. Add it under Appearance → Editor → Navigation with a block theme, or Appearance → Menus with a classic theme. To make a page your homepage or your blog listing, use Settings → Reading → Your homepage displays.
Posts vs pages
| Posts | Pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Use for | Blog articles, news, updates | About, Contact, Services, landing pages |
| Shown in the blog feed and RSS | Yes, newest first | No |
| Categories and tags | Yes | No |
| Publish date shown | Usually | Usually not |
| Can have parent and child pages | No | Yes |
| Comments | On by default | Off by default |
A post cannot be "placed on" a page directly. To show certain posts on a page, put them in a category and link the category archive in your menu, or add a Query Loop or Latest Posts block to the page. If you are organizing a growing blog, see how to use tags in WordPress.
How to publish your WordPress site (make it live)
Your site can be "unpublished" even when every post is published. Where the switch lives depends on which WordPress you use.
On WordPress.com: new sites start as Coming Soon. Go to Settings → Reading, scroll to Site Visibility and click Launch site (you must confirm your email address first). If there is no Launch button, the site is already launched; the same section then lets you choose Public or Private (WordPress.com support).
On self-hosted WordPress (WordPress.org): the site is public as soon as your domain points at your host. Three things can still hide it:
- A coming-soon or maintenance plugin, often installed by your host or theme. Turn it off in Plugins, or in the host's dashboard.
- Settings → Reading → "Discourage search engines from indexing this site". If it is ticked, visitors can see the site but search engines are asked not to index it. Untick it and save.
- A temporary domain. Some hosts install WordPress on a temporary address first. Connect your real domain, then check Settings → General shows it (with
https://) in both address fields.
Once the site is public, verify it in Google Search Console and submit your sitemap so Google finds your posts. New to self-hosting? Our guide on how to start a WordPress blog walks through hosting, installation and the settings to change on day one.
Schedule, save as draft, or publish privately
You do not have to publish immediately. In the sidebar, click the current status or the date next to Publish to change it:
| Status | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Saved, visible only to logged-in users who can edit it | Work in progress |
| Pending | Waiting for an Editor or Administrator to publish | Contributor workflows |
| Scheduled | Goes live automatically at the date and time you set | Batching posts, timed launches |
| Private | Published, but visible only to Editors and Administrators of the site | Internal notes, staging content |
| Password protected | Published, but the content needs a password | Client previews, members-only posts |
| Published | Live for everyone | The default after Publish |
To schedule a post: click Immediately next to Publish, pick a date and time, then click Schedule (WordPress.com support). Saving a draft with a future date is not enough; the button must say Schedule. This short official video shows it:
Scheduling is the easiest way to keep a steady rhythm: write several posts in one sitting, then spread them across the week. Our guide to writing blog posts faster shows how to batch the writing itself. An editorial calendar keeps track of what goes out when.
Before you click Publish
Run through this list for every post. It takes two minutes and catches the mistakes that are painful to fix after a post is shared.
Interactive checklist
WordPress pre-publish checklist
0/12
Content
0/4Settings
0/5Final check
0/3Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can come back to it later.
For the SEO fields, our guide on how to write meta titles covers length and wording.
How to edit, update or unpublish a post
- Edit a published post: open it from Posts → All Posts, make your changes and click Save (the button replaces Publish once a post is live). Changes appear immediately, and WordPress keeps revisions you can restore.
- Unpublish: open the post, change its status to Draft in the sidebar (or use Switch to draft, depending on your version) and save. The URL stops working, so expect a 404 for anyone who had the link.
- Delete: Move to trash in the sidebar. Trashed posts stay recoverable for 30 days by default.
If a post has backlinks or rankings, update it rather than unpublishing it. If you must remove it, redirect its URL to the closest related post.
Why can't I publish on WordPress?
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "Submit for Review" instead of "Publish" | Your user role is Contributor | An Editor or Administrator publishes it, or changes your role in Users |
| "Publishing failed" or "not a valid JSON response" | The editor cannot reach WordPress's REST API, often because of a security plugin, firewall rule, broken permalinks or a mixed http/https setup | Re-save Settings → Permalinks, check both addresses in Settings → General use https, temporarily disable security plugins to find the culprit |
| "Missed schedule" on a scheduled post | WordPress runs scheduled tasks when someone visits the site; on quiet sites the task can run late | Publish it manually, and ask your host to run WordPress cron from a real server cron job |
| Post is published but not on Google | Discouraged search engines, a noindex setting, or the page is simply new | Check Settings → Reading and your SEO plugin, then inspect the URL in Search Console. See crawled but not indexed |
Posting to WordPress without the dashboard
"Posting to WordPress" does not have to mean logging into wp-admin. These are the main ways to publish from somewhere else:
| Method | How it works | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress or Jetpack mobile app | Write and publish from your phone, with photos from your camera roll | Quick posts and edits on the go |
| Post by Email (Jetpack) | Turn it on in Jetpack → Settings → Writing → Post by Email; emails sent to a secret address become posts (Jetpack docs) | Simple text posts from any email app |
| REST API | Send POST /wp-json/wp/v2/posts with an application password created under Users → Profile | Developers, custom workflows, migrations |
| Automation tools (Zapier, Make) | Create posts from forms, spreadsheets or RSS feeds | Repetitive, structured posts |
| SEO content platforms | Write the article and publish it to WordPress automatically, with images, links and SEO fields | Teams that need a steady publishing schedule |
Outrank is one of the last kind: it connects through its WordPress plugin or the REST API (WordPress.com is supported too), researches keywords your site can rank for, and publishes a finished article every day, live or as a draft you approve first. The integrations page shows the setup. For a broader look at how publishing fits into planning and writing, see our content creation workflow.
WordPress for publishers with several writers
WordPress's built-in roles already give you an editorial workflow: Contributors write and submit for review, Authors publish their own posts, Editors publish and edit everyone's, and Administrators manage the site. For editorial calendars, custom statuses and notifications, editorial plugins such as PublishPress add the missing pieces. Large newsrooms often run on managed enterprise WordPress hosting for performance and security reviews.
WordPress is the default choice for this for a reason: it runs 39.6% of all websites and 58.4% of sites with a known CMS (W3Techs, October 2026). If you are still deciding whether it is right for you, read whether WordPress is easy to learn.
FAQ
How do I publish a post on WordPress?
Go to Posts → Add New Post, write the title and content, set a category and featured image in the sidebar, and click Publish. WordPress shows a pre-publish panel; click Publish again and the post is live. Use the date next to Publish to schedule it instead.
How do I publish a WordPress site?
On WordPress.com, go to Settings → Reading and click Launch site in the Site Visibility section. On self-hosted WordPress, the site is public once your domain points to your host; turn off any coming-soon plugin and make sure "Discourage search engines from indexing this site" is unticked in Settings → Reading.
How do I publish a page in WordPress?
Go to Pages → Add New Page, add your content, and click Publish twice. Then add the page to your navigation menu, because publishing a page does not add it to the menu automatically.
Why does WordPress say "Submit for Review" instead of "Publish"?
Your account has the Contributor role, which can write posts but not publish them. An Editor or Administrator must review and publish the post, or upgrade your role under Users.
Can I post to WordPress from my phone or by email?
Yes. The WordPress and Jetpack mobile apps let you write and publish from your phone. With Jetpack's Post by Email feature, you get a secret address, and any email you send to it becomes a post.
What is the best WordPress publishing tool?
For writing yourself, the built-in block editor is enough, with Yoast SEO or Rank Math for SEO fields. To publish from other systems, use the REST API or an automation tool like Zapier. To have articles researched, written and published on a schedule, use a content platform that connects to WordPress, such as Outrank.
