How to edit your own website

1. Find the log-in

First find out what your website is built with. What is this website built with? tells you. Then:

• WordPress: add /wp-admin to the end of your website's address.
• Squarespace: log in at squarespace.com, or add /config to the end of your address.
• Wix: log in at wix.com, pick the site, then Edit site.
• Shopify: log in at admin.shopify.com.
• Someone else built it: ask them for a log-in in your own name, not a shared one. Taking over a website lists what else to ask for.

Log-in not working? I can't log in to my website goes through the checks in order.

2. Change the words

1. Open the page. WordPress: Pages, then click the page's title. Squarespace: the Pages panel, the page, then Edit. Wix: Edit site, then the page menu at the top. Shopify: Online Store, then Pages (products are under Products).
2. Click the words and type. Change one thing at a time, so it's easy to undo.
3. Pasting from Word or an email? Paste as plain text (Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows, Cmd+Option+Shift+V on a Mac), so odd fonts and colors don't come with it.
4. Keep headings as headings. Pick them from the editor's style menu, not by making text big and bold. Headings in order explains why.
5. Links: select the words, press the link button, paste the address. Use words that say where it goes, not "click here" (why).

3. Change a picture

1. Make it smaller first. Phone photos are often 3 to 5 MB, which slows the page. Shrink a photo does it in your browser.
2. Click the picture in the editor and look for Replace or Change image. Upload the new one.
3. Add the alt text (a short description, read out to people who can't see the picture). It's usually in the picture's settings, labeled "Alt text" or "What's in the image?". Write good alt text shows how, and the Alt text writer drafts it for you.
4. Check how it's cropped on a phone as well as a computer. Many editors let you pick the part of the photo that must always show.
5. Use only photos you're allowed to use: your own, ones you paid for, or ones whose owner said yes.

4. Make it live

Saving doesn't always mean visitors can see it. It depends on the editor:

WordPress

A new page goes live with Publish. On a page that's already live, Save (Update on older versions) changes it at once. Save draft keeps a new page private.

Squarespace

Save on a live page changes it for visitors. Some plans can save a page draft first and publish it later.

Wix

Save keeps your work in the editor. Visitors only see it after Publish.

Shopify

Pages and products change when you save them, if they're set to be visible. In the theme editor (the home page and layout), newer versions ask you to Publish after you save.

Then open the page in a private window, or on your phone, to see what visitors see.

• Still shows the old version? Website still shows the old version.
• A new page or event doesn't appear at all? My event or page isn't showing.
• Made a mistake? WordPress keeps earlier versions of each page (Revisions), and Wix keeps a site history. On Squarespace, undo only works until you exit the editor.

5. What to leave to your web person

Fine to do yourself:

• Words, opening hours, prices and phone numbers
• Photos and their alt text
• News, events and new pages

Ask first before you:

• Change the theme or template. It can move or hide your content.
• Delete a page or change its address. Links to it break, so it needs a redirect.
• Update or remove plugins or apps.
• Touch anything about the domain, DNS, email, code, payments or forms.
• Change a setting you don't understand.

What PageKiwi can check

After you've changed pictures, Picture Check finds missing alt text and photos too heavy for a phone. After you've moved or deleted pages, Link Check finds the links that broke.