Divi is one of the most popular WordPress themes. It’s a good fit for small business owners who want to be able to manage content themselves easily using a visual page builder. With Divi-based WordPress websites, many of my clients can update the text on their websites or swap out photos without having to wait to get on my schedule — win-win!
If you’re a business owner with a Divi website, follow this guide to make changes to your website.
Logging In to Your Website
By default, all WordPress-based websites use the same login page on whatever your website domain is. So, if your domain name is yourdomain.com and your content management system (CMS) is WordPress, then the page you would use to log is most likely yourdomain.com/wp-admin. My login page for this site is raeheitkamp.com/wp-admin. Give it a try on your website, and see if you reach a log in page. Or for more fun, try it on a couple of websites you don’t own. See if you can find out which sites are running on WordPress. I’ll give you a hint: As of today, my local liquor store up here in Northeast Minneapolis is running WordPress.
Note: WordPress websites can be customized to use a custom login page instead of the default. If you’re sure (or pretty sure) you have a WordPress-based website, and yourdomain.com/wp-admin doesn’t take you to a login page, check with your web developer and ask them what your login page is
When you get to the login page, use your username and password to login to your website. The page you are taken to is called the WordPress Dashboard.
If you don’t know your username and password, try resetting your password by clicking the “Lost your password?” link on the login page. Enter your email, and you should receive an email with a password reset link. Sometimes these emails go to spam or junk folders. If you don’t see an email come through be sure to check those folders. If you don’t get an email at all, try some other company emails you have access to. After that, contact your web developer to ask them for your website credentials.
Find the Webpage You Want to Update
The WordPress Dashboard has a lot going on. It’s usually easier to find the page you’re looking for when you can navigate your website from the “Frontend”. (The Frontend is what your website looks like to your site visitors.) To switch from the Dashboard to the Frontend, click on your website’s name in the top left corner of the Dashboard menu, just to the right of the WordPress “W” logo
Afterwards, you’ll be taken to the homepage of your website. The only thing that looks different from how site visitors see your site is that there is a black menu bar across the top of your website. If you need to go back to the Dashboard, just click on your website’s name again on that black menu.
Now that you can see what your website looks like, navigate to the page you want to change. You can click on navigation menu links, search for the page you want to change, or even follow a link from somewhere else. You will still be logged in to your website for a while, even if you leave the site and come back.
Editing a Webpage with the Divi Visual Builder
Once you’ve reached the webpage you want to change, click on “Enable Visual Builder” in the black WordPress menu bar.
When the Visual Builder loads, you will be able to click on parts of the page (called “modules”) and make edits. A popup editor might appear when you click on a module. You can either make text changes right on the page, or you can edit module content in the popup editor. It may be easier to edit different types of content on the page or in the module. If you’re struggling to change something, try switching to the other method.
If you want to make more significant changes to page layouts, I recommend contacting your web developer or a designer. While Divi makes it easy to modify page layouts, it’s usually best to consult someone with training in graphic design before changing the look of pages. It’s easy to take a page that looks good, make what feels like one little change to the layout, and end up with a page that looks bad. Trust me: leave layouts to the experts. You can reach out to me if you want a page restructured, or find a designer from my network to create a page concept.
To save your edits, click the purple circle with three white dots at the bottom of the screen. Then click the green “Save” button to save the page. To return to the Frontend, click Exit Visual Builder in the WordPress menu.
Publishing a Blog Post
To create a new blog post on your website, hover over the “+ New” button in the WordPress menu. Then click Post from the dropdown. The next page you’ll see is a blank blog post edit screen.
There are a few different ways to create blog post content. You only need to use one of these methods, and you may not have access to all of them.
Gutenberg Editor
I’ll start with the default WordPress post editor, Gutenberg. On the edit screen, you’ll first add a title. Below the title, there is another box where you’ll enter your blog post text. To add an image, click the black plus next to the main text section, and select “Image” from the popup window. Drag the image you want to add into the window to add it to your post, or click the Upload button. To publish your post, click the “Publish” button on the edit screen.
Classic Editor
You might have the Classic Editor installed on your site instead of Gutenberg. If so, when you get to the edit screen, you’ll add the title of your post at the top, then enter the text of your post below in the larger text box. To add images to your post, place your cursor in the large text box where you want your image placed and click the “Add Media” button above the large text area. In the next popup, upload your image by dragging and dropping it onto the screen from your computer, or use the upload tab to find the file. Click the highlighted “Insert into post” button to add your image. Publish with the “Publish” button.
Divi Builder
To build a blog post using the Divi Builder, when you get to the edit screen initially, add your post title in the first box, then click the purple “Use the Divi Builder” button, then click the “Build on the Frontend” button. The next page will look similar to the one you’ve seen to edit pages, except that it’s blank. Add the sections, rows, and modules you want on your blog post. This is a little too complex for a blog post — I recommend the previous two methods before using this one. Similar to my comment in a previous section about page layouts, you probably want to involve a designer if you’re creating blog posts with complex layouts.
How Did It Go?
Let me know if these instructions worked for you, or if there’s something I can make more clear. Post a comment below and I’ll do my best to get back to you quickly!