Duplicate WordPress posts and pages quickly
Today I am introducing two small and useful plugins with which WordPress posts and pages can be quickly duplicated and copied. With the plugins, manual copy & paste of content can be avoided and thus some time and effort can be saved.
Being able to clone and duplicate WordPress posts and pages quickly is particularly practical if the same basic structure or text modules are often used in the content. If you regularly copy texts from other sites by hand when creating new content, you should definitely take a look at the plugins.
So far I have used a rather older plugin for duplicating content, which is how the idea for this post came about. Since this is no longer actively developed, I have tried about six plugins and can recommend two without reservation.
I myself now use the first plugin.
Duplicate Page and Post
* Note from November 13th, 2017 : Apparently the plugin is not compatible with some WordPress versions. Thanks to Alexandra for this hint. Until the plugin author has fixed the problem, I recommend using the second plugin (see below).
The Duplicate Page and Post has proven to be a good and simple plugin.
The plugin completely dispenses with any settings and fulfills its sole purpose - duplicating content - quickly and smoothly.
Duplicate post, Duplicate page and Duplicate custom post or clone page and clone post.
After activating the plugin, it adds a new link to clone the article in the overview pages of posts and pages. The duplicated contribution is saved as a draft and can then be edited.
In addition to posts and pages, the plugin also works for all other custom post types without any problems. In addition to the post itself, all data in the Post Meta Table is copied, which also means that custom fields are duplicated.
Duplicate Post Plugin
In addition to the very simple Duplicate Page and Post plugin, Duplicate Post is a good alternative for anyone who wants to configure the duplication process precisely.
With over a million active installations and a wide range of options, it is the heavyweight among all plugins for content duplication. It is being actively developed and is completely translated into German.
Duplicating the articles and pages also works here with a simple click in the overview of all articles.
In addition, Duplicate Post has a number of setting options, which can be found under Settings → Duplicate Post .
For example, you can choose exactly which elements of the post or page should be copied and add a prefix and suffix to the title of the copied article.
Under Authorizations, you can define for which custom post types duplication should be possible and which user roles the option is available.
The display options control the menus and views in which the options and links for cloning are displayed.
Conclusion
If you like it simple and don't need any options, Duplicate Page and Post is in good hands. Otherwise I recommend the Duplicate Post plugin due to the sophisticated settings, full German translation and active further development.
The four other plugins worked the same way, by the way. Only small things such as unclear descriptions or improper programming were decisive. If you have installed an alternative and are satisfied with it, you don't need to think about a change, as all plugins are very similar.
Hello Brian,
that's what I call good timing. I wanted to deal with it immediately and be on my way. Then your newsletter came in.
Thanks for your recommendation.
Best regards
Phuong
Hello Phuong,
You're welcome 🙂
LG,
Brian
That's exactly how I felt. The newsletter came just in time!
I'm happy 🙂
Somehow you have a very good knack for choosing topics. And perfect timing. THANKS!
For me, too, the contribution came as requested.
PS I am looking for something for newsletters that can easily be Germanized and, if possible, the contributions of a category should be automatable based on a time window of the publication. Basically: "... here comes the newsletter with the new articles from week 25" or something like that. Do you have a tip?
Hello Gustav,
You are welcome. For newsletters I would generally use a service like Mailchimp, CleverReach, Sendin Blue or Campaign Monitor instead of sending emails with plugins via my own server.
Automated RSS campaigns are possible with the services, for example sending a weekly newsletter that lists all posts from the blog's RSS feed.
Best regards,
Brian
Is there a plug-in that copies the respective pages but then changes selected variables? (Title, part of the metas and words in the text?
With Duplicate Post you can choose which elements will be copied. These fields then remain empty and can be filled again on the new page.
It is not possible to change the variable, I don't know of any other plug-in for it, sorry.
Hi brian,
I use WordPress in conjunction with the Sonic Wolf Theme.
Unfortunately the first plugin was not compatible with my system.
I couldn't log in anymore and had to get help from a friend who somehow uninstalled the plugin for me.
I am not a programmer, I have to say.
But maybe this hint is still of use to you.
Warm regards
Alexandra Fischer
Hello Alexandra,
Thank you very much for the information. Sometimes WordPress plugins are no longer fully functional on certain systems or after new WordPress updates. In my tests in May, the plugin worked well and unfortunately I didn't notice any problems with it.
I edited the post and pointed out the possible complications with the plugin so that other readers don't stumble over it and are more likely to fall back on the second plugin.
The plugin authors have already been informed of the bug in the support forum, and an update may also be published soon to fix the bug.
Many Greetings,
Brian
Thanks for the description. Can I also change a page when duplicating it in a portfolio entry?
Thanks in advance,
Anja
Hello Anja,
As far as I know, the duplicate plugins don't support this, but the post type can be changed with the post type switcher plugin after cloning:
https://de.wordpress.org/plugins/post-type-switcher/
Many Greetings,
Brian
Hello Brian,
Thank you for the answer and the tip!
Many Greetings,
Anja