Bulk Editing Page and Post Details in WordPress

Bulk editing pages, posts, tags, publishing status, templates and other elements in WordPress can save you a bunch of time.

Luckily, it’s easy to do – though it’s not immediately obvious exactly how if you’ve never done it before.

In today’s Weekend WordPress Project I’ll show you how to quickly bulk edit in the backend of WordPress.

Displaying All Posts or Pages in the List

It’s much easier to bulk edit your posts or pages when you are able to display all or most of them on their respective lists.

By default, you can only display 20 items per page and you need to click through multiple pages to see all your posts.

The pagination on the "Pages" admin dashboard page. It shows that there are 98 items across 5 pages. — Having to page through and edit page after page of content is not only tedious, but a time waster. Luckily, there’s an easier way.

To increase the number of items that are shown on the page, click the Screen Options tab at the top, right-hand side of the page underneath the “Howdy” greeting.

The "Screen Options" tab is open and the value 999 has been input in the field next to the pages label, under the title "Show on screen." — You can enter almost any number of items to display per page, but the maximum is 999.

Enter in a number in the input field next to the Pages label and click Apply. The page will reload and most (if not all) your pages or posts will be listed.

You can also do the same for your Users page to list more of your site’s members on that page.

Bulk Editing Elements

To bulk edit posts or pages, click the Title check box to select all the items on the list or otherwise check the individual posts or pages you would like to edit.

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Click the Bulk Actions drop down toward the top of the page and select Edit, followed by pressing the Apply button.

The "Title" check box has been selected on the "Pages" admin menu page and the "Bulk Actions" drop down box above it is highlighted. — You can also bulk delete posts, pages or users with this method as well.

An editing area will open underneath the drop down box revealing the elements you can edit for the content you selected.

The bulk edit section has been revealed and the pages to edit are shown on the left under the title "Bulk Edit." The template is set to "Full Width," comments have been allowed and the status of these pages have been set to "Published." The "Author" and "Parent" elements have been left to acquire no change. — A similar section will open for posts as well where you can edit relevant elements.

Once you’re done making all the selections you’d like, click the Update button to instantly apply all your changes. Once the page reloads, you’re done.

If you’d like to see more time saving posts, check out our articles 7 Free WordPress Plugins to Make Quick Work of Tedious Tasks and Using Appointments + to Setup and Streamline Client Consultations.

What are other time saving tools for WordPress you love to use? Share them in the comments below.

Jenni McKinnon Jenni has spent over 15 years developing websites and almost as long for WordPress as a copywriter, copy editor, web developer, and course instructor. A self-described WordPress nerd, she enjoys watching The Simpsons and names her test sites after references from the show.