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Creating your free press releases is really pretty simple. (By the way, if you happen to know how to enter and edit blog posts using WordPress, FreePressReleases.com will be easy for you – since this is a WordPress-powered site.)
After you log in to FreePressReleases, you’ll go to the “add your press release” page. To see a simple overview of the functions on that page, click on the image to the right.
Below we’ve provided detailed descriptions of the functions.
Press Release Headline
“Add New Post” appears at the top of the page, with a wide blank window appearing below – this is the area for you to enter the headline for your press release. For your reference, the term “post” is a term used by bloggers, meaning “article” – and here, on FreePressReleases.com, your “post” is the same as your “press release”.
Image & Media Uploader
This area is used to begin the process of uploading pictures, audio, and other media to be attached to your press release. Please check the tutorial for the media uploader for more information.
Press Release Content
Right under the “Upload/Insert” uploader you’ll see a gray, wide area with a row of various icons, and under that appears a large blank area, which is where your press release content is entered. You can use the icons above to assist with editing your press release before you submit it for review. Most of the icons work like this; highlight the text to be edited, and then click on the icon to apply the effect to the highlighted text.
Bold, Italics, Underline
Using these three icons is simplicity itself. Highlight the text, and click the icon, and the text will be bolded, italicized, or underlined.
Unnumbered and Numbered Lists
To use these two icons, you start with consecutive lines of text, highlight the text, and and by clicking the icon you will create an indented list, that is either unnumbered, with a small black disc to the left of each line, or numbered, with a consecutive number inserted at the left of each line. This is an easy way to draw attention to an element of your press release visually, making the release more readable and accessible. Here’s an example.
Start with a list (each list item must appear on a separate line);
Categories & Tags
Press Release Social Sharing
Statistics & Spam Protection
Unnumbered List
- Categories & Tags
- Press Release Social Sharing
- Statistics & Spam Protection
Numbered List
- Categories & Tags
- Press Release Social Sharing
- Statistics & Spam Protection
Indent / Outdent Text Paragraphs
An additional method you can use to visually accent areas of your press release is by indenting – shifting the left margin of a paragraph to the right. You increase the amount of indentation by clicking the icons multiple times. The outdent function can be used to move the left margin back to the left. Here’s an example;
Paragraph Indented Twice
An additional method you can use to visually accent areas of your press release is by indenting – shifting the left margin of a paragraph to the right. You increase the amount of indentation by clicking the icons multiple times. The outdent function can be used to move the left margin back to the left.
Same Paragraph Then Outdented Once (same result as indenting one time)
An additional method you can use to visually accent areas of your press release is by indenting – shifting the left margin of a paragraph to the right. You increase the amount of indentation by clicking the icons multiple times. The outdent function can be used to move the left margin back to the left.
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Anchor Text & Hyperlinks
In order to create a hyperlink (web link), in your press release, just highlight the text to be used as a link to another website.
Next, click on the “insert/edit link”button above the content area (this icon looks like a link of chain – it appears “grayed out” and inactive until you highlight some text.
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After you click this icon, a new window will pop up in surrounded by a dark overlay over the page. Next you need to enter the web address (URL) of the website that you want to link to. If you forget to enter “http://”, the link function will remind you and can correct the omission automatically. When you enter an email address, it can also automatically add the “mailto:” to the code, making it a clickable email link.
Once the link information is entered, click on the “Insert” button, and the window disappears and reveals the text you had highlighted, which will now be underlined and colored blue, denoting a hyperlink.
You will see several other entry windows in the insert/edit link popup window, which you can ignore.
Font Size
This button is used to change the font size used in sections of your press release. Highlight some of your press release text, click the icon, and select the size desired. Here are some examples of various font sizes:
12pt
14pt
18pt
24pt
Please note: Sizes larger than 12pt must be used sparingly. Our editors may change font size smaller if they believe that the font used is too large.
Copy/Paste Content from a Microsoft Word Document
Often, users use Microsoft Word to create their press release. The resulting Word document can contain web hyperlinks and text attributes like size, underlining, bolding, etc. – that you’d like to keep in your press release.
If you copy your press release content from the Word file, and then paste it right into the content editor, when the press release that results from this process is published, various odd looking characters will be visible in the final press release, that you did not see in the editor window. What you see is “extra” information that is present in the Word file, and is made visible by WordPress after your press release is published.
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To eliminate this problem, but to keep the useful information from the Word press release, and to avoid having to re-enter elements like links and bolds and font sizes, you can use the “Paste from Word” button.
- Open your Word file, highlight your press release contents, and Copy.
- Place your cursor in the press release editor window at the spot you want to paste the press release content.
- Click the “Paste from Word” button.
- A new window will pop up, simply place the cursor in it.
- Paste the contents into the pop up window, the click the Insert button.
Copy / Paste as Plain Text
If you want to completely eliminate all formatting information from content that you’ve copied, which might come from a Microsoft Word document, a web page, wherever, there is also a “Paste as Plain Text” button next to the “Paste from Word” button. This button is used in exactly the same way as the “Paste from Word” button, resulting in removal of all formatting from the original source.
Undo / Redo
If you make an error while editing your release, and want to undo the change, click the Undo icon, and if you change your mind, to put the “undone” changes back into the release, click the Redo icon.
Tags
You can create tags for your release in the Post Tags window labelled “Add new tag”.
There is no limit to how many tags you can enter. You should keep multiple tags separated with commas.
When you are done entering your tags, remember to click the Add button in the Post Tags area before you Save or Submit your press release, otherwise the tag entries will not be saved.
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Industry Categories
The industry categories section appears underneath the content editor.
Check the box for any category that applies to your press release.
Please do not submit a release with “Uncategorized” selected.
Submitting Your Press Release
While you are creating your press release in the editor window, you are able to see a preview of how your press release will look by clicking on the Preview button to the right of the edit window.
To save your press release for later editing, click the “Save Draft” button. Your release will be saved and will be available for you to make further edits later, before you are ready to submit it for review and publishing.
When your press release is ready, click on Submit for Review. Your press release will be reviewed promptly by an editor, and published. You won’t be able to make further changes to your press release, unless you are subscribed to the Unlimited “No Ads” Plan.