How to Properly Update Live Published Posts in WordPress

Publishers needing to edit content post-launch face a perilous balancing act – make updates without negatively affecting site visitors. According to HubSpot, 78% of marketers update published content at least weekly. But WordPress doesn‘t make it easy…until now.

In this definitive guide, you‘ll learn how to edit live WordPress posts the right way using a simple yet powerful plugin.

The Risks of Updating Live WordPress Content

Before we dive into the step-by-step process, it‘s important to understand exactly why updating live posts can wreak havoc:

As you can see, overwriting live content carries quite a bit of risk. From unexpected formatting changes to half-written drafts going public, it gets messy fast.

But you still need to be able to update old posts. Outdated information hurts your brand. New research proves that content older than one year sees 70% fewer traffic.

Thankfully, you can avoid risks AND freshen up old posts with the right revision workflow…

Step 1: Install and Activate Revisionize Plugin

Revisionize is a game changing WordPress plugin for proper post revision management. With over 20,000 active installs and a 5-star rating, it‘s a top choice for WordPress experts.

Installing Revisionize takes just a minute or two:

1. Download the Revisionize plugin zip file.
2. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
3. Click Upload Plugin and choose the zip file you just downloaded.
4. Install and activate.

And that‘s it! Now let‘s see it in action…

Step 2: Create Draft Clone from Live Post

Here‘s a walkthrough for safely editing any live post with Revisionize:

1. Visit Posts > All Posts to see your published content alongside drafts.

2. Hover over the post you want to modify, then click the Revisionize link.

   

3. This instantly clones your live post as a new draft. The changes you make in this draft will NOT affect the published version.

4. Make edits to your heart‘s content without worries! The live version remains untouched.

Understanding Post Locking

You may be wondering, "What stops someone else from editing the live post while I‘m revising the draft clone?"

Good question. Revisionize automatically locks the published post from edits once you create a new draft from it. This prevents overwritten changes from multiple authors.

It will display a "locked" icon to deter other editors from making live changes:

Once you publish your revised draft, the live post lock is removed.

Step 3: Publish Revised Draft

After completing your updates to the new draft clone based on the live post, follow these simple steps:

1. Review changes and confirm nothing is missing
2. Click the Publish button
3. The clone will now replace the existing live post with your revisions!

Updating Revisions

For additional changes later on, Revisionize stores your draft clone in the post history. You can tweak it anytime to publish a new update:

Recap and Tips

Revising published posts is a necessary evil for active websites. But making live changes stresses out site visitors and publishers alike.

The Revisionize approach gives you draft flexibility without ever impacting the live version:

Pro Tips

• Use post preview to collect feedback from other teams
• Compare revisions to clearly see edits between updates
• Schedule published post updates during low traffic times
• Customize with a child theme

Still have questions on updating WordPress posts? Ask our experts in the comments below!