How To Add A WordPress Print-Button On Your Website To Ensure a Printer-Friendly Interface!

When it comes to online platforms and websites of any niche, WordPress is basically the epitome of people’s choice. That’s right, from blogs to e-commerce sites to even professional corporate websites; WordPress now covers almost 35% off all the internet. Thanks to the advancements and the options to make your site as effective and efficient as you prefer, you now have the flexibility that you are looking for. But there is no doubt that with more possibilities, there come more queries. And if it is anything related to WordPress, we hope to answer it all!

And today here at BeautifulThemes, we aim to answer the much-asked question of our users: How to ensure your WordPress site is printer friendly? Now before we get into the actual tutorial, we wanted to talk in detail about what exactly does it mean and the benefits of making your site printer friendly!

What Is a Printer Friendly Website & Why Is It Important?

The simple definition of a printer-friendly website are those sites that are modified and formatted for printing. These web pages are basically designed to fit the contents in an A4 Sheet. In addition to this, the print-friendly pages also modify the hyperlinks to ordinary texts, hide the navigational tools and on-screen menus displayed normally. Basically, these types of pages are designed for lengthy and detailed posts and instructions.

Now that you have an idea about what exactly does it mean for a website to be printer-friendly, let’s talk about some of the benefits of integrating printer-friendly options for your site. First of all, the printer friendly websites make it more efficient and effective for your users. In case your users want to print out your website content to save for later, this makes it so much easier. In addition to this, the printer friendly sites come in handy when you have to display facts and data.

For corporate and professional purposes, the print-friendly websites meet the agenda of focusing on the main content. Not only that but for those who are running out of space on their devices, the printed modules are a great alternative. We can go on and on about all the scenarios where printing a website might come in handy, but for now, let’s move on to the main purpose of our article!

How to Check If Your Website is Printer-Friendly?

Before we move on to the process of adding a printing button or making sure that your site is printer-friendly, let’s get the basics down. Most websites by default tend to be more attractive, colourful and visually advanced to make sure that it catches the user’s attention. However, some minimalist or simplistic website design approach tends to be more printer-friendly. So to check the status of your website, here is a simple guide you can follow.

For this, first, go to your website and right click on the page you want to check. Go ahead and select the option for print.

This will redirect you to the standard print module of the browser you are using and the preview of the print format of the page. There, if the module looks exactly as it does on the website with all the sidebars, navigation menus or headers, then this means that the site is not printer-friendly. However, if the print module shows the page without the sidebars, headers and simply the content of the post, then the site is seemingly printer-friendly. Here, in the image, you can see an example of what a printer-friendly website should look like.

Now, if you are okay with the print module and the preview of your website, you do not need to make any changes. However, if you want to make your website more user-friendly and effective, then let’s get on to the process of ensuring that your site is printer friendly.

How To Add A Print Button On Your WordPress Website!

Step 1: Installing and Activating WordPress Print Button Plugin!

Now that we have covered the process of checking the print status of any website, let’s talk about the process of ensuring the positive result. One of the easiest methods of doing so with a WordPress website is through a WordPress Print Button Plugin. Not only will it make it easier for the users to access, but it also makes your content printer-friendly within a matter of minutes.

To get started, you first need to install and activate a WordPress plugin. Here, for example, we will be using the plugin PDF and Print. If you have any confusions regarding the topic, here is a quick guide to get you started: How To Install a WordPress Plugin?

Now that the plugin is activated, you will find a newly added menu on the Dashboard called PDF & Print. Click on the option and select Settings. By default, the PDF and Print buttons are added on all the pages after the plugin activates. So with Settings, we can change and modify the option and choose the preferred action.

Step 2: Modifying The Default Settings!

Once you are redirected to the Settings Page, you can see the options where you can change the default settings. The first option for Add Button To displays all the places where you can choose to either add or remove the button. Tick off the ones where you want the Print and PDF buttons to be displayed. Here we have selected only the Pages and Posts. If you want you can easily set it as however you prefer.

The second option that you will see is for the Button Position. Simply choose the place you want your button to be placed at. Here, we have ticked off the option for Top Right. Set the position keeping in mind the design of your website and choose the appropriate place.

Now, the next option is for the Button Image. You can use the images set by default or you can upload your own design. While we prefer the default images as it is a universal symbol and familiar to the users, you can upload your own if you want.

Apart from the above-mentioned settings, there are more advanced and additional settings that you can change or modify. You can also name the Button for both Print and PDF. Other advanced settings include options for enabling or disabling Print Shortcodes, Link Annotations and Download or Open. Choose whatever option best suits your preference and requirement.

Don’t forget to Save the Changes once you are down and you are done. The Final step is surely to check whether or not the plugin works as effectively as we anticipate. Here is an example of the button we have added and surely enough, our website is now printer-friendly!

Concluding It All!

The process is as easy as it gets especially with the help of the WordPress plugin! We hope by now you have the idea of why you should make sure that your website is printer-friendly. If you wish for your website to be efficient and user-friendly, it is almost a must for your website to be printer-friendly! Not only does this ensure an easier user-experience, but we are sure that your site will receive good reviews!

For those who found this tutorial helpful, we have covered most of the basics of WordPress for beginners. Feel free to check them all out here on our blog! If you want here are some similar or related articles that you might find interesting!

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