A new reader asks:

>Hi! I was just wondering… When I wrote my last blog entry, I noticed at the end, there were different buttons you could push to save it. What is the difference between “Save” and “Publish” ??

Great question! At the bottom of the Write Post box, you will see three buttons-Save and Continue Editing, Save, and Publish. These buttons are your friends when you are writing a post, and they each have a specific use.

• Save and Continue Editing- Let’s say you are in the middle of writing a post, and you have to get up to pee, or change a baby’s diaper, or answer the phone. Even though WordPress is automatically saving a draft of your post as you write, I recommend clicking the Save and Continue Editing button just to be safe. If you lose power or someone else wants to use the computer, your post is saved just where you left it, right there on the screen. Even if you have to sign out of WordPress, just sign back in, go to My Dashboard, click on Write Post, and you will see your post there as a draft. Click edit, and there is your post, ready for you to keep working on.
• Save- If your post is done, but you don’t want to to show up on your main page yet, click Save. Your whole post will be right there in your Dashboard waiting for you to Publish it.
• Publish-You’ve written your whole post, and it’s ready to go. Click Publish, and your post will appear on your main page.

One more tip- let’s say you have Published your post, and you are reading through it on your main page, and you see something you want to change. Depending on which theme you are using, you will see an “edit” button either at the top or bottom of your Published post. Click edit, and you will go back to the Write Post page. This time, you WON’T see a “Publish” button, but don’t worry! Just make your changes and click Save. Your post will be republished automatically, with your changes.
Thanks for the great question!