The Easiest Way to Insert a Print Button Into Your Blog

When I initially started keeping a blog, I didn’t realize how crucial it would become to make it easy for visitors to print off individual posts.

Someone commented on the page asking if there was a way to print it off and keep it for later reference. Many people usually agree with those who ask, but they would never admit it to me.

(And if you’ve ever attempted printing a web page that wasn’t designed to be printed, you know how aggravating it can be; the wrong layout, wasted pages and ink, and the feeling that you should have just left it online)

It may seem trivial, but disabling the print option for your material reduces your capacity to influence, keep, attract readers, and even invite guest bloggers.

In light of that, this piece will instruct you on the fundamentals of making your WordPress blog print-friendly. It won’t take more than five minutes, but the benefits to you and your guests will last for years.

There are many such plugins, but I’ll focus on WP-Print; I have no vested interest in it beyond the fact that I’ve used it on several blogs. It’s simple to set up and operate, and it doesn’t take long at all.

Because specific plugins can pose security issues, verifying the rating and download count before installing a new plugin is a good idea. With over 400,000 downloads and a rating of 4.5 stars, it’s reasonable to assume that installing WP-Print will go smoothly.

After installation, a print icon will appear at the bottom of each blog post, and clicking it will display a streamlined, short, and print-ready version of the post, with the bonus of complete link references at the bottom.

Follow these easy instructions to implement it on your blog:

Plugin Installation Step 1

To access your blog’s plugins, select that option from the sidebar and log in. To install WP-Print, go to the ‘Add New’ tab and do a search for it.

The WP-Print plugin should appear; select its ‘Install Now’ button to install it.

If you’re still having trouble, download the plugin from WordPress.org as a zip file, and extract its contents to your site’s /wp-content/plugins directory.

Second, turn on the plugin.

After you’ve installed the plugin, you’ll find it in your blog’s plugins directory (in the admin panel, select Plugins > Directory).

Just hit the “Activate” button.

Modify Your Preferences

To access the WP-Print configuration page, navigate to Settings > Print in the blog’s sidebar. You may customize the print-friendly version of the post by selecting the print icon and the information you wish to include.

Refresh Permanent Links

This is required for the plugin to function, but it’s easy to implement. To do this, navigate to your blog’s Settings page and click Permalinks.

Five, Expand on Your Theme

All that’s left to do is include a tiny bit of code right before the point at which you want the print button to show up.

WordPress’s built-in theme editor (Appearance > Editor) and any other text editor will do the trick when changing your theme. Make sure you have a recent backup before you make any changes to your theme, which is located under wp-content/themes/THEME_NAME.

The plugin’s readme.txt file (wp-content/plugins/wp-print/readme.txt) contains the complete details, as the code involved prevents them from being reproduced here.

After that is finished, your readers can easily print off your writing.

Run a weblog of your own? Want to increase your readership but don’t know how? You may not know this, but guest posting is a highly efficient method of promoting your business online. The good news is that you can now take advantage of guest writing without the typical effort by using a free plugin.

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