Creating your site’s content can be an exciting process, especially when it’s a new experience. However, WordPress doesn’t make every task as user-friendly as it could be. For instance, there’s not an obvious way to go about trying to duplicate a page.
However, you can make copies of posts and pages within WordPress. In fact, there are a number of ways to achieve this, depending on your development experience and overall WordPress setup.
In this post, we’ll look at four potential ways to clone a WordPress page. We’ll also touch upon the situations in which this skill can come in handy. Let’s get started!
In This Article 🕵🏼
Why You Would Want to Copy a Page in WordPress 🤷🏾♀️
Before we get into the bulk of this article, let’s talk about why you’d want to copy a page in the first place. After all, there is plenty of talk about how duplicate content can ruin your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As such, you’d be forgiven for thinking that replicating posts is a ‘bad thing’.
However, it doesn’t have to be a poor decision. There are a few scenarios in which it’s beneficial to duplicate a page in WordPress, such as:
- Wanting to work on a revised version of a post without potentially disrupting the live version
- Using previously published content as a template to maintain the same structure and format in new posts
- Assessing the effectiveness of certain elements through A/B testing
- Permanently moving a post or page from one site to another
Notice that none of these reasons are concerned with publishing duplicated content, just replicating it. This means your SEO can remain intact while you improve your productivity and the quality of your site by occasionally copying posts and pages.
💻 Duplicating your content doesn't necessarily mean you're negatively affecting your SEO. #WordPress Click To TweetHow to Duplicate a Page in WordPress (4 Available Methods) 🖨
Fortunately, there are a few ways you can duplicate a page in WordPress, ranging from the subjectively difficult to the objectively simple. Here are the four methods we’ll cover:
- Add code to your functions.php file
- Copy your content manually
- Install a dedicated duplication plugin
- Use the Block Editor’s built-in functionality
We’re going to order the methods from hardest to easiest, so let’s start with your functions.php file.
1. Add Code to Your functions.php File
Adding code to your functions.php file is an advanced tactic for many WordPress tasks, including adding duplication functionality to your WordPress site. This method is ideal if you’re going to be coping content regularly, carrying out batch duplication, or if you’re simply not a fan of having too many plugins on your site.
The end result of this process will be a Duplicate option for your posts and pages:
Thankfully, there isn’t a whole lot of coding knowledge required to get this method working. However, you are going to need to know how to find your site’s functions.php file, and potentially what to do if something goes wrong in the future.
First, make sure you’re running a child theme so that you can retain your changes when your theme needs updating. Next, open your functions.php file using either File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or WordPress’ built-in theme editor:
There are a few places where you can find the code snippet you’ll need. GitHub is our preferred choice, but other developer blogs will have the same information. Regardless, the process is the same:
- Copy the code snippet from your chosen source.
- Paste it into your functions.php file and save your changes.
- Check that the functionality works on your website.
Note that in order to enable this functionality for both posts and pages, you’ll need to repeat the last line of the snippet linked above and replace post_row_actions with page_row_actions.
The main drawback of this method is that you’ve basically created a WordPress plugin on the fly here. With that comes all of the compatibility and maintenance concerns of a developer. It may be that another solution is better suited to your skills and experience level.
2. Manually Copy Your Content to a New Page
You could consider this option the ‘brute-force’ method. It’s likely the one you’re already familiar with (or considering) if the Classic Editor is part of your workflow, so let’s quickly run through the steps, then discuss some of the sticking points you’ll come up against.
First, you’ll want to open both your current and new pages in separate tabs. It’s not necessary, but makes the process easier. Then, simply highlight the content you’d like to move, switch to the other tab, and paste it in:
However, there are a few issues with this method. For starters, it doesn’t carry over any of your meta data, taxonomies, permalink slugs, SEO settings, or anything else other than your post’s body content. This means you’ll have to keep switching between tabs to make sure you’re copy-pasting everything.
Obviously this makes the process extremely time-consuming, and also opens the door for human error. This is why most people seek out alternative methods.
3. Install a Dedicated Plugin to Copy Your WordPress Page
Where would we be without WordPress plugins? The answer is likely the second method in this list. However, it turns out there are a few plugins available to help you copy a WordPress page.
There are two we recommend, and they do pretty much the same thing: Duplicate Post, and Duplicate Page. Despite their confusing names, you don’t need both as each works with pages and posts.
Regardless of which one you choose, you’ll need to install and activate it on your site. We’ll use Duplicate Post for our example. Both plugins have dedicated settings pages (for example Settings > Duplicate Post in your WordPress dashboard) where you can choose the elements you’d like to copy, and some custom options for the transfer process:
Then, navigate to All Posts or All Pages pages within WordPress, and hover over your chosen entry. Both plugins add a Clone option here:
Clicking on it will copy your WordPress page or post to a new draft and refresh the entry list.
4. Use the Built-In Block Editor Features to Duplicate Your Page
Finally, if you’re using the Block Editor, you won’t need to bother with additional plugins or code. There’s duplication functionality within the Block Editor itself, although you may not have stumbled across it before.
To find this feature, open a post or page for editing, then check out the options in the top toolbar. You’re looking the More tools & options icon at the far right:
Clicking on the three-dot icon will open a menu, which includes an option to Copy all content. Select it, and you should see a confirmation message that your post or page has been copied to your clipboard. Next, head back to your dashboard and create a new draft. Then, simply paste the content as per the second method we covered in this post.
Much like the manual option, this won’t copy over any of the related meta data for your WordPress content, so you’ll have to make a few more trips to ensure you’ve replicated everything correctly. However, this is a portable option for quickly moving your body copy into another draft without worrying about breaking the existing formatting or structure of your post.
Wrapping Up 🧨
Sometimes, it’s helpful to be able to quickly reuse content on your WordPress site. Depending on your skills and individual WordPress setup, there are a number of available options at your disposal. This may not be a scenario you’ll encounter often, but you’ll be glad to have at least one of the methods we’ve noted in this piece on hand when you do.
Let’s quickly run down the four methods of copying a WordPress page:
- Add code to your functions.php file.
- Manually copy and paste your content over to a new draft.
- Install a plugin, such as Duplicate Post or Duplicate Page.
- Use the Block Editor’s built-in functionality.
Of course, once your content is in place, you’re ready to attract new clients and monetize your site. As such, it’s important to make sure you have the tools you need to maintain and support them. At WP Buffs, we offer Care Plans and white-label solutions that not only make managing your client sites easier, but can improve your solutions and expand your offers as well. Check them out today!
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Image credit: Ben_Kerckx.
