How to edit a post permalink in WordPress Gutenberg
In the Classic WordPress editor, the post’s permalink displayed directly below the post title. When I first installed and started testing WordPress Gutenberg months ago I realized I couldn’t figure out how to edit the permalink. One of the things that I use as part of my SEO optimization strategy is to edit the permalink to optimize it for my primary keywords. Where was it hiding?
In the classic version of the editor it was displayed right below the post title. In Gutenberg, the permalink is no where to be seen! I couldn’t figure out what I was missing. Or was I just missing it?
I actually turned to Google to find an answer to my question and learned two things: why I couldn’t find the permalink and where to edit the permalink in Gutenberg.
Why the Edit Permalink Feature Moved (sort of)
Googling took me to a issues log for Gutenberg in Github as I wasn’t the only one that couldn’t figure out how to edit my post permalink.
From Google, I found a discussion thread on WordPress GitHub on the topic. Would you believe it wasn’t a feature originally editable within the post? It was only editable on the Quick Edit on the Post list screen.
Fortunately, the Gutenberg team added it to the post edit screen, but you have to click to get to it. Based on the support thread, it didn’t seem like there was an understanding of how the permalink (and ability to edit it) is part of the content creation process. For people not focused on SEO, the need to edit the permalink doesn’t rise to the same level of priority. As a result, you need to know where to find the post slug so you can edit it.
4 ways to edit a post permalink in Gutenberg
There are 4 ways to edit a post (slug) permalink in Gutenberg:
- Quick Edit on the post list
- Yoast Snippet Editor
- Document Panel Section
- Showing the hidden edit button while editing the post
Quick Edit in the post list
In the list of posts, you can quickly edit a single row. This isn’t the best plan because you’re likely doing this AFTER you published a post and not before. Ideally, you should avoid editing the permalink after publishing unless you’re ready to create redirects to the new URL. Of course, if you do this within a few seconds that may be ok assuming pushing a post doesn’t automatically start any social media postings or other communications.
Ultimately, this isn’t my favorite approach for editing a post permalink.
Using the Yoast SEO Snippet Editor
One of the fields within the snippet editor is the slug. Since you’re likely already in there editing your post meta title and description as part of your optimization steps, this is potentially convenient.
Note: You’ll need to click “Save Draft” before the slug shows up in the snippet editor.
And this also helps remind you to make sure you’ve optimized your post permalink to match up with your target keyword for your post.
Using the Document Panel on the right
After the early releases of Gutenberg, the team added a new option to edit the permalink. It’s a new section in the Document panel called Permalink. When you expand it, you can see the slug field. Make sure you save your draft post first so it filled with the default version of the permalink.
Showing the hidden post permalink
This one takes a few steps, but the post permalink is actually displayed at the top of the editor window.
Hint: it shows up when you click on the post title, but make sure you save your draft first.
How to edit your permalink in WordPress Gutenberg
- Enter your title for your post in the space at the top.
- Click “Save Draft”. You’re not going to be able to edit the default permalink until you save the first draft. Autodraft isn’t enough set the initial slug for the post.
- Click on the title of your post again. The permalink now displays above the post title with an edit button.
- Click the edit button on the permalink and make any changes you need to the slug and click “Save”.
- Click Save Draft on your post to make sure everything is saved.
Yes, it’s easy to miss and requires an extra step to change in the current Gutenberg design. Don’t forget to put this on your post editing checklist!
A few tips about editing your permalink in Gutenberg
And let me leave you with a few quick tips for editing the permalink for your post in Gutenberg.
- Create a checklist for your SEO process so that you don’t miss a step.
- Send feedback to the team letting them know this is important to you and your process.
- Try to avoid editing the post title again while in draft mode after your edit the permalink.
- Sometimes the permalink gets hidden behind messaging or the top action bar.
Create a checklist for your SEO process so that you don’t miss a step
I’m guessing editing permalink isn’t the only thing on that list and in a rush it’s easy to miss a step.
Send feedback to the team letting them know this is important to you and your process
The more voices they hear can help change design.
Try to avoid editing the post title again while in draft mode after your edit the permalink
Once you edit the permalink it should stay that way but I notice the occasional hiccup if I edit the post title, then the permalink, then the title again. Once you publish the post the permalink is set.
Sometimes the permalink gets hidden behind messaging or the top action bar.
Another one of those hiccups that happen from time to time. If for some reason when you scroll to the top of the post and top action bar is covering the permalink display, either:
- Edit post slug using the Yoast Snippet editor, or
- Save the draft, go back to the All Posts list, and open the post again. That should reset the spacing on the top of the post. Simply reloading the page doesn’t seem to be reset the missing space.
Over to you. How has your experience with editing post permalink been in Gutenberg?
I hope this quick overview of how to edit your post slug in Gutenberg has been helpful. What else have you noticed when it comes to permalinks?
