Often times to save yourself a lot of trouble and time you might find useful to clone or duplicate page/s or post/s to create content that’s cohesive and beautiful at the same time.
Creating such a duplicate post or page will drastically reduce your workload and will allow you to work on the page without affecting the authenticate post/page. That is why in this article you will find a detailed tutorial on how you can create clone pages and posts without messing up your website.
Special precautions shall be taken when on live sites since the errors made will have live consequences. Without further ado let’s get started.
Why Duplicate a Page or Post in WordPress
As we mentioned earlier we might feel the need to create content that’s identical or slightly identical to one of our previous posts/pages. It is pretty irritating and inconvenient to start copying and pasting it piece by piece, but there is always a solution to almost anything in WordPress.
As we will see along further in this article, you will be able to replicate your posts or pages manually with WordPress or using a plugin. Plugins are always on your rescue and this shall not be an exception.
To create a coherent and consistent website, will require such a task to cut down your time and effort and still manage to put on a great show.
While users wonder all over your website, you will have created a cohesive layout and content that gives them a familiar sense of uniqueness and aesthetic that’s is prone to your site only.
Another reason why duplicating your website is useful is when you want to edit the content on a live site, it is unsafe and completely unnecessary when you could opt for a duplicate.
You could duplicate the page, make all the changes and edits you wish for and then after you have a positive affirmation that this content should be live, you could replace the one with the other. This scales down the chances of making errors or breaking something on your site.
A particular use of duplicate posts/pages will be found in a WooCommerce site. When running an online store you will most likely need to create multiple product pages akin to design and layout. It can be extremely tedious, especially when working on a large collection.
Simply create a template that you are going to use, duplicate the template, and edit product specifications for each. That should cut the redundant work in half. Let’s get back to the main point of our article and show you how it’s done.
How to Manually Duplicate Pages/Posts in WordPress
With Gutenberg integrated in WordPress you can manually replicate posts/pages with just a few simple steps. This is particularly useful when you are on the verge of duplicating a small amount of posts or pages, but still has its limitations.
It is always much more convenient is you use a plugin for this due to the risks of making any kind of technical mistake, or when you are working with a multiple amount of posts/pages. For the sake of excellence the plugin option seems more rational.
However, to manually duplicate a post or page you will first need to open the existing post/page in the WordPress editor. You will need to make sure to not have selected a certain block on the post, because you will duplicate only the content that’s in that block. Click outside a block on you post to make sure you entire post will be copied.
Next on you will need t spot he three dots at the top of the page on the left and click on them. Scroll down the options tab, locate the Copy all Content option and click on it.
You will notice a small notification telling you that your content was successfully copied, and now you will need to go to Posts > Add New to create a new post. Write a title for your post and click on the first empty block.
Just like when copying and pasting a simple text, you can either the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V on Windows – Cmd + V on Mac or right-click your mouse and select Paste.
Your content will be transferred into the new post just like that. Simple enough. You can go ahead and edit the content to make it distinct from the earlier one so that you don’t confuse Google or your users.
How to duplicate Pages/Posts with the help of a plugin
To make matters easier when creating multiple duplicates of your posts or pages you can use a plugin that’s designed specifically to ease the process and minimize errors or mistakes.
For this article we have chosen to explain how you can clone posts or pages with just a click using the Duplicate Post plugin. Being one of the most popular WordPress plugins for replicating posts, it offers great features. Not only you can copy pages or posts, but you can also duplicate comments, slug, menu order, and more.
To get started you will first need to install the plugin, you can confide in this article to help you with this step. After installation you will have to activate the plugin and start working your way to duplicate all the posts and pages you’d like.
Upon activation, go to Posts > All Posts and you will notice that two buttons have been added Clone and New Draft.
If you wish to only duplicate a post and not make any changes to it click on the Clone button. Note that if your post is live – meaning it was published the cloned post will be published as well.
Meanwhile if you click on the New Draft button it will direct you to the WordPress editor page, there you can edit and make changes to your duplicated post and then choose to publish, since the default settings will be set to draft.
Duplicate Posts Settings
The plugin offers amazing customization tools that you can each set individually. The settings framework is divided into three tabs each containing specific options like support for custom post types assign the administrative roles or decide what to duplicate.
You can access the customization tools if you go to WordPress Dashboard > Settings > Duplicate Post and configure the plugin settings.
The first is the What to Copy Tab. From here you can decide if you what type of content you want to copy, simply check the tick in the box and it will enable the duplicate for that certain content.
Or you can uncheck the items you don’t want to be copied.
The second tab is the Permission Tab from where you can assign how can clone or duplicate posts or pages. By default the plugin will allow only the administrator and editor user roles to duplicate posts/pages.
You can check the boxes for other administrative roles to extend their capabilities to copy posts.
Besides role managing, if your website supports custom post types, you can enable to duplicate posts that features this type of post. All settings are easy to be set, all it takes is a check beside the box.
And lastly on the Display Tab, you will be able to appoint places where your clones or duplicate post/page will appear. By default the plugin regulates the duplicate posts to be shown in post links, admin bar, edit screen, and bulk action.
Other Plugins to Duplicate Pages/Posts in WordPress
Besides Duplicate Posts plugin there are other great resources to duplicate posts or pages, which we will list down on this section. All of these plugins will help you seamlessly copy and replicate posts and pages without a hassle.
Duplicate Page
Duplicate Page is yet another amazing and popular plugin and an alternative to Duplicate Posts. You can easily install the plugin from the WordPress Dashboard, since it’s a free plugin and activate it to get started.
Upon installation and activation, go to WP Dashboard > Post or Page > All Posts or All Pages. If you are using custom post types you can navigate to the admin screen for your custom post.
You will notice that under each post/page alongside the default button an additional button has been involved.
To create copies of your posts or pages you will need to click on the Duplicate This button and you will get a new post or page or custom post type which you will need to edit and adjust its specific alterations.
The same content will be copied entirely, from there you can make necessary changes and the best thing is that it will carry out the Draft mode. This way you can edit and when it’s completed, you can publish it.
Duplicate Page and Post
Duplicate Page and Posts allows you to copy and clone posts or pages simple and quickly, without changing your posts content, title or style. Although not feature-loaded, this plugin has won our hearts due to the fact that it’s fast and offers a simple interface.
Same procedure will be applied to reproduce posts or pages with this plugin as well. It’s as straightforward as the other plugins.
Once you have installed and activated the plugin, you will need to navigate to the All Posts or All Pages admin screen and from there you will notice an additional button under the post/page title named Duplicate.
You will need to click upon the Duplicate button under the title and it will direct you to a new post/page on Draft Mode. Make all the changes you’d wish to make and hit Publish once you feel it is completed.
WooCommerce
The odd chances for the WooCommerce plugin to be among the list are low, but if you are running an online store and have installed WooCommerce, the plugin itself comes bundled with built-in-tools that will allow you to duplicate pages with a single click.
This is particularly useful when you are showcasing a large collection that needs to have the same style and layout, but the products inside will differ. Or you could use the plugin for other various reasons.
All you will need to do is go to the main products screen and there you will notice a Duplicate link that has been added under each product once you hover on each. Simply click on the Duplicate link under the product’s title and you will be directed to the editing screen to make the necessary adjustments.
Also, while in the process by default the slug for the duplicate product will remain the same with the -copy text added. You might find to change that as well if you are planning to have different products with the same style.
Final Thoughts
We have explained in detail how you can duplicate posts or pages in various methods. Depending on the number of replicate posts/pages you will need to do will also determine the approach which you will decide to use.
It is always a safe bet to use a plugin for the job. It is simpler, neater, and quicker. Also, the chances of making a mistake or error are lower, in which case you won’t end up editing your original post accidentally when you should have edited the duplicate version.
Whereas, if you need to copy one content or two, it will be quicker to use the built-in-tool of WordPress where you can copy the entire content and paste it into another post.
However, whichever path you choose to decide you will be able to copy and clone pages with a simple click, saving you an abundant time of work and energy.
