In “Blogging From Your Phone: A New Year’s Resolution,” Sarah Blackstock challenges herself to blog from the WordPress mobile app in 2018. Some of you may have similar goals to connect with others and write more, and one way to achieve both is by using WordPress on the device that’s always in your pocket. Not sure how to begin? Here are five suggestions.
Check your notifications
The first place I look when I open my WordPress app is the Notifications tab — the bell-shaped icon on the bottom right. I get excited when I see that orange dot, which means that a reader has liked or commented on one of my posts. The Notifications tab is the quickest way to see who has interacted with your site(s): you can approve, trash, or edit comments, and respond to readers right on your phone to keep the discussion going.
Read new posts on your favorite sites
Tap on the Reader icon at the bottom of the screen to access the Reader on your device. Here, you can see what we’ve recommended on Discover and catch up on the latest posts from your Followed Sites (shown below). In Search, you can hunt for topics, hashtags, and communities that interest you. And if you want to revisit a post you’ve recently read and liked on WordPress.com, tap on My Likes to see these posts all in one place.
Start publishing with short posts
If you’re posting from your phone for the first time, start slow — save the 1,000-word essay or new year’s manifesto for another time! Free-write for five or ten minutes. Or, write a brief poem or haiku, like Ben Dwyer’s daily installments on his minimal site, haiku.blog. If you typically publish posts with different word counts, tackle your shorter posts on the app.
To draft a post, tap the pencil icon (the center icon at the bottom of the screen), select the site you’d like to post to (if you have multiple sites), give your post a title, and then tap on the main area of the screen to draft your post. When you’re ready to publish, click on the three dots at the top right of your screen and choose Options. Add relevant categories and tags if you’d like, and set a featured image. You can also tap Preview (under the three dots icon) to see a preview of how the post will appear once it’s live. When you’re ready, tap Publish.
Above all, keep it succinct — get comfortable using the app’s post editor and drafting on a smaller screen.
Post a single photograph
Another way to test the waters is to submit an image for the Weekly Photo Challenge, which runs every Wednesday at The Daily Post. As recommended above, keep it brief: type a sentence or two at the top of the post to introduce your photo. Then, add a link to the challenge post so your submission will appear in the image grid of responses. (This process creates a pingback.)
To create a pingback on the iPhone, for example, double-tap on a word to highlight it — you can highlight multiple words by dragging the cursor — then tap on the chain-link icon in your toolbar. Make sure the photo challenge link is in your clipboard — the link will be pasted automatically in the Insert Link form that pops up.
When you’re ready to add an image, click on the + icon in your toolbar, which will launch your phone’s Media Library. (You may be asked to adjust the settings on your phone to allow the WordPress app to access your images.) Select your image from your library, then click Insert 1. Once again, tap on the three dots to access more options or to preview the post. When you’re happy, tap Publish.
Create text shortcuts
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Finally, here’s a timesaver for more advanced users: use a tool that lets you create shortcuts for boilerplate copy that you always use, like messaging that asks for donations or directs readers to your tip jar or Patreon page, or a disclaimer that you display at the bottom of your posts. Instead of typing this text out for every post, use a Text Replacement on your iOS device (General → Keyboard → Text Replacement) or create shortcuts with apps like Shortcut (for iOS) or Texpand (for Android).
THanks for the tips
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I was not using wordpress app much but now when i checked all the new features it’s damn amazing. Love your content ✨
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Thank you Cheri
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Thank you. I’ve been using the app as well as my desktop. I find the app easier though as I’m a busy stay at home mom. I can Blog from any spot in the house this way. Now to just get more consistent in my blogging 😩
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I love the improvements to the app from 2015 when I first started blogging on WordPress. It’s so interactive now!
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I just started my blog and downloaded the app and I love it.
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Great app. Now a way of life.
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Thank you for this information.
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I like to use it to save any blog ideas and quickly get thoughts down. Easier than doing it in a notebook
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The app is indeed a good tool . I don’t have to use my laptop when posting a touching scene described in words when I’m on the bus 🤣😀. I prefer using the phone app. Thanks!
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I am beginner to use this app and might start to write again after long time ^^
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Some great tips here. I use my phone for all the basics, uploading photos, starting posts off etc, getting the bones of post in place which I can do easily in between other stuff, and then flesh it out on a laptop or pc later on which is when I usually make sure the images are the right size and caption them up the way I want them. I rarely post solely from my mobile (except when I’m on holiday) but find it an invaluable means of getting all my posts started.
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I use the app all the time for notifications, stats and reading blogs. I’m not very good at using it to write. I did use it to post to the photo challenge yesterday. Maybe I will try a couple of short writing posts soon. Thanks for the tips.
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I’ve tried some of those but I guess my blogs get lost in the shuffle or aren’t interesting enough. Only views I get are from people I invite personally so far.
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I’ve been loving the app for my political humor blog. I work a lot so it’s convenient to post from work.
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I’m so happy about the app. There’s only one think I’m not able to do as on the computer which is writing the caption under the image. I’ve tried with “modify” on the pic and then to put the caption in this section, but at the end it doesn’t show up! 😦
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I’m happy to have found this! It was very informative for me! Thnx!
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Yes, very helpful (although the Android app wasn’t available when I tried to download it–not your problem, though)! Thanks!
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Infact my very first blog was from the app…
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Thank you so much for all the information that you provided. It will help me lots to learn this app. I have just downloaded it.😊I I can figure more things on this app alot easier now 🍻 Cheers!!
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Thank you for that info and many thanks for the follow off now to reciprocate.
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Awesome Ideas! At the moment I was only using it write a couple of drafts and titles for potential posts I wanted to write. It help me structure my content. But I really like the idea of reading posts and uploading pictures.
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It’s amazing what is able to do with WordPress, thank you for this article
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Well I draft most of my posts on the app but I manipulate them on laptop.
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This is the first time i ever heard of wordpress i downloaded and everything runs so smoothly and i love it! Theres sometimes some lag but thats okay still love the mobility of the app!
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Omg, thx so much❤️
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Just made a few changes from my phone 😱
Lighting the matches
https://firesstory.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/lighting-the-matches/
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I do use the app. My phone is useful for checking notifications. I use that to see if someone has liked, commented, or replied to a comment I wrote on another blog. Than I know when I get back to my room, I can respond
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I am a first time user of WordPress website pls guide how to use this app and how to operate it. Please show in the way video.
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Some video tutorials for iOS: https://wordpress.com/support/video-tutorials/wordpress-for-ios/
Some video tutorials for Android: https://wordpress.com/support/video-tutorials/wordpress-for-android/
Thanks for your interest in using the app!
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I use the app to read blogs I follow, discover new ones and read those, react to comments, and see stats (which, as some people on the web insist on, it would be way off). I write and edit/publish only on my laptop, first in Word and then placing that to WP. Can’t change on.
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I recently just started blogging and this was helpful.. thanks😙
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Thank you for this helpful post! I’m relatively new to blogging and WordPress so I’m not exactly sure if I’m on the right track! Chanced upon your post today and I think I will be following you from here.
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Thanks for this lovely blog. WordPress is so awesome!
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I do enjoy using the app, though I prefer to write up on my iMac, having the option to do it on the go is a welcome and useful one at that.
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Love this App.
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I like app for the ‘reader’ and I use drafts to note ideas for posts but I don’t find it easy to fully write a post on my mobile, I still want a big screen for that :D.
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Great Post, thanks for some Inspiration
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100% of my 100 posts have been created and posted via the app.
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Fantastic tips. Thanks a lot!
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I love this app
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Cool app
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I like the app so much……….!
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WordPress app is really fast and I found no lag using it.
So great for quick look out on posts and short writings.
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How should I make my blog seen to more viewers?
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Here are resources for growing your blog, traffic, and readership:
A free ebook on growing your traffic and building your blog: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/postaday/ebook-grow-traffic/ (There are three common formats there that you can download.)
A free email course in which we send you daily emails for 10 days on the topics of branding and growth: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/blogging-university/#branding-growth
A list of previous posts on The Daily Post that covers traffic, growth, finding your audience, social media, and more: https://wordpress.com/dailypost/category/traffic-growth/
Thanks for publishing on WordPress.com!
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This was a helpful post! Thank u for the great tips! I’m a Beginner on WordPress and can’t wait to start Blogging! Support me guys anf I’ll support you!
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Wow very good entry. I read clearly.
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