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In WordPress, both pages and posts have visibility options that control who can see them on your website. These options are essential for managing the accessibility of your content. There are three main visibility settings: Public, Private, and Password Protected. Here’s an explanation of each and how you can set them up:
Public
- Public is the default setting. It means anyone can see the page or post on your website. You can also make a post stick to the front page if it’s a post (by making it a “Sticky” post), ensuring it stays at the top of your blog.
Private
- Private content is only visible to logged-in users with at least an Editor or Administrator role (for posts) or an Administrator role (for pages). Private posts and pages are not visible to the public or search engines.
Password Protected
- Password Protected content requires users to enter a password you set before they can view the content. This option is useful if you want to share certain content with only a select group of people who have the password.
How to Set Up Visibility Options:
- Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
- Navigate to Pages or Posts, depending on what you want to modify. You can either create a new page/post or edit an existing one.
- In the Document settings on the right-hand side, look for the Visibility setting under the Status & Visibility section. By default, it’s set to Public.
- Click on Public to see the options. You can then select:
- Public to keep it viewable by anyone.
- Private to make it only visible to site editors and administrators.
- Password Protected to require a password to view the content. If you choose this, you’ll need to enter a password that viewers will need to input to see the content.
- After selecting your desired visibility, save your changes or publish/update the page or post.
Additional Tips:
- Remember that Private pages and posts are not just hidden from the public but also from search engines and users who are not logged in with sufficient permissions.
- When you set a page or post to Password Protected, you can share the password with anyone you want to give access to. They don’t need to have a user account on your site.
- Visibility settings can be changed at any time by going back into the page or post settings and adjusting the Visibility option.
By controlling the visibility of your pages and posts, you can manage your content’s accessibility on your WordPress site more effectively. Whether you’re publishing private company information, sharing exclusive content with specific people, or making everything public, WordPress gives you the flexibility to choose.