Nix Studios Blog How to Add Symbols to a WordPress Blog Post

How to Add Symbols to a WordPress Blog Post By Jacqueline O. Moleski Introduction Have you ever needed to use a word or type a name with accent marks in WordPress? Or have you ever needed to add a Symbol to your WordPress Posts that isn't on your standard keyboard? How did you approach the problem? Did you leave the accent marks off, even though that means your word is mis-spelled? Did you skip over using the symbol you needed? Perhaps you followed the work-around I used on another blogging site for years: write the word or phrase in a Microsoft Word document, using Word's Insert Symbol Function to add your letters with accent marks, or to add your symbol, then copied and pasted the word or phrase into your post. But WordPress offers an easier way. The Word Visual Editor includes a Symbol function. Three Reasons to Use Symbols in Your Posts There are three primary reasons for using symbols: Adding accent marks to words or names so they are spelled correctly. Using common business, scientific, or monetary symbols. The Arrow Symbol is useful when writing posts that consist of multiple steps. The First Reason - Correct Spelling Many words and names can only be spelled correctly with accent marks. One example is the word résumé. Those two e's with accent marks are part of the correct spelling of the word. Another example is the name Zoë. There are many more such examples. Leaving off accent marks looks unprofessional, and can even lead to misunderstandings. The Second Reason - Business, Scientific, and Monetary Symbols In a business blog, you may need to add symbols such as copyright ©, trademark , service mark ?, or registered trademark® to your posts. If your blog is for a scientific website or even discussing the weather, you may need to add the degree symbol ° or other symbols. Because I am located in the US, my computer keyboard has a dollar sign ($) right above the number four key - however, if I need to use the symbol for British Pounds Sterling (£) or Euros (€) I can do that by adding those monetary symbols to my posts. The Third Reason - The Arrow Key for Directions Many posts on blogs are directions. Most people want to learn how to do something, and often the first place to check is on-line. Explaining how to do something you know how to do clearly, helpfully, and precisely is one of the best types of blog posts. The ? symbol is extremely useful in writing posts of directions, to simply mean "next", especially when explaining a computer path, or a series of directions to find something in a menu on a computer program. For example, in a post I wrote on my blog, www.bitchwithwifi.wordpress.com, I was explaining how to create a custom quick access toolbar in Microsoft Word 2010. I had already explained the process of getting to the customization menu, but as part of the instructions that menu needed to be closed. My instructions for re-opening the menu were shortened considerably by using the arrow symbol. This shortened the post because I didn't need to explain again how to open the customization dialogue box, yet it serves as a quick reminder for anyone reading the post as to how to get to the customization menu. There are also arrows that point in other directions, if, for example, you needed to create a box with directions to your office location to place on your website "about" page. I'm sure you can now see why the symbol button can be very useful. Part Two - How to Add Symbols Now that you understand when to add symbols to your posts, it's time to learn how to add symbols to your posts. In WordPress it really is quite easy. First, be sure to use the traditional WYSIWYG composing window. You should also be on the Visual tab, not the Text Tab. If you do not see the symbol icon right away, click to expand the formatting options. Click the highlighted button to expand the formatting toolbar to include the additional options in the second row. You will only need to do this once - after you have activated/turned on the expanded toolbar- it will always appear when you compose posts in the traditional composing window. To add an accented letter, or symbol, click the symbol button (the Greek letter Omega), choose the needed accented letter or symbol by clicking on it, and it will appear in your post where you cursor was. Ta da! It's that simple!