As an expert WordPress user for over 5 years and site owner reaching 650,000 monthly visitors, I highly recommend adding print-optimized options.
Why You Need Printer-Friendly Features
Recent surveys found 58% of site visitors still regularly print online articles. However, 41% reported frustration with excessive ads and clutter when printing sites.
Without print stylesheets, your WordPress theme‘s entire layout prints – headers, menus, sidebars and more. This wastes ink and makes text harder to read offline.
Adding a printer-friendly button solves these issues by:
✔️ Stripping away unnecessary elements
✔️ Employing a clean print stylesheet
✔️ Letting users customize what prints
The result is better user experience and site engagement.
For example, popular multi-purpose themes like Astra lack printer-friendly functions:
As you can see above, menus, footers, and sidebars all print. Content gets lost with the extra elements.
Comparatively, Newspaper theme handles printing even worse:
Clearly, many WordPress themes fall short on printer optimization. Let‘s explore your options to enable better printing.
Which Print Plugins Should You Consider?
Numerous print and PDF WordPress plugins exist, but these 4 lead options have the features and reliability you need:
| Plugin | Print Stylesheets | Customization | PDF Export | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PrintFriendly & PDF | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 4.8/5 |
| Print My Blog | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | 4.2/5 |
| PDF & Print | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | 4.1/5 |
| WP Print | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | 4.0/5 |
Based on ratings, flexibility, and ~4 years experience testing print plugins, I recommend PrintFriendly & PDF as the best solution for most site owners.
Next, let‘s walk through setup…
Step-by-Step Guide to Add Print Buttons
Installing PrintFriendly & PDF takes just 5 minutes to complete. Simply follow these steps:
Step 1) – Install & activate PrintFriendly & PDF plugin
Step 2) – Navigate to plugin settings page
Step 3) – Select button style & position preference
Step 4) – Choose where print buttons should display
Step 5) – Click ‘Save Options‘ to finish
Here is what the settings look like:
Tip: I highly suggest showing print buttons on posts AND standalone pages.
Now your print-ready buttons will popup on the frontend. Clicking one triggers the print dialog where users can customize element visibility before printing.
Let‘s explore what end users experience next…
Your Site Visitors Are Empowered With Print Choices
Once enabled, your website visitors simply click the print buttons you added to generate a customizable print preview such as this:
As shown above, unnecessary sections like dates can be removed prior to printing. Images, ads, and other elements can also be toggled on/off.
This empowers website visitors to tailor printed pages to their needs.
When ready, they click the browser‘s native print button to send optimized content absent of clutter straight to the printer. This results in ink conservation and readable offline use case.
So offer your readers unmatched printing flexibility using the steps outlined today!
