How to Duplicate a WordPress Post or Page

Wish to duplicate a WordPress post or page with ease? Let’s explore some ways to make this process easy and efficient.

As robust as WordPress may be, the platform is undoubtedly missing some useful features for bloggers.

One such necessity (for some, at least) is the ability to duplicate WordPress posts and pages. As of this writing, users have to copy/paste the contents from the original post onto a brand new draft to achieve this…

This also means that you’d also have to manually insert many other details which I’ll cover below.

Thankfully, plugins exist specifically to fulfill each blogger’s diverse needs. In the case of cloning entire posts and pages, we’ll discuss the main benefits of relying on a plugin to help make your blogging job much more efficient.

Duplicating a page or post through a plugin can save you a ton of unnecessary labor, especially if you periodically post the same type of content (more on that in a bit).

Some of the duplicated data may include:

Featured image
Main article image(s)
Slug
Excerpt
Tags
Author
Comments
SEO settings
Article status
Other metadata

That’s a lot of things you won’t need to worry about! Now let’s look at some common use cases…

Quickly jumpstart frequently-used post templates: Many websites habitually post the same type of content every day or week (daily job highlights, weekly polls, and so on)…

Instead of manually typing the same introduction or other data every time, you can now duplicate an existing post and just add any new details as necessary.

Reuse content from static sources, such as a sales page: For example, my own website advertises a handful of pricing tables (along with other details) on at least two pages. This makes for another great case where duplicating an existing page comes in handy.

Ideal for article series and linking to other resources: Articles divided into several parts may use much of the same content from the previous entry (maybe to summarize its main points or to reuse the same introduction / conclusion, and so on).

First it’s important to note that most of these plugins work in a very similar fashion…

1. Install / activate the plugin in question
2. Go to your WP posts / pages list
3. Hover over the content in question, then click “Duplicate” or the plugin’s equivalent

Now let’s look at the best plugins to duplicate WordPress content.

Yoast Duplicate Post: This plugin allows you to clone any post type and copy all associated settings (including existing comments). You may also assign access to specific user roles and post types.

In addition, you may clone many posts in bulk from that same All Posts/All Pages screen…

Revision Manager TMC: Besides cloning all content types, this tool also works as an enhanced version of the WP default ‘Revisions’ feature. For instance, admins (and other user roles) can instantly receive an email after each article revision.

You may simultaneously view the original content along with the revised changes to help you decide whether to publish the clone or stick to the original version.

Post Duplicator: This cloning plugin can duplicate posts, pages, custom post types, taxonomies, and custom fields. However, existing comments are not duplicated.

Duplicate Page and Post: Pretty basic plugin to duplicate WordPress content. It does its job as intended with no fancy options other than the basics.

Revisionize: Similarly to Revision Manager above, this plugin duplicates your WordPress posts while enabling you to tweak and ultimately replace the original if you so choose.

Q: Can I transfer the duplicated post to another website with these plugins?
A: These plugins are not designed for site-to-site transfer.

From the WP backend, go to Tools>Export>Posts/Pages. Then, select the post in question and click “Download Export File.” Lastly, use the associated Import tool on the target website to upload the cloned content.

While the export/import tools won’t let you select specific posts, you should save the cloned content in its own category to ensure that only that specific work is extracted.

Q: Can I safely delete these plugins after duplicating a post/page?
A: Yes! These merely create another copy of an existing post or page. You may safely disable or delete the plugin in question afterward.

Q:Is this ‘duplicate content’ stuff bad for SEO?
A: Not necessarily. This is primarily used for minor data that is frequently repeated (tags, images, post status, author, and so on). You may also clone text portions from one article onto another without SEO issues.

However, you should refrain from copying content in its entirety from one website to another (even if you own both websites). While this won’t result in a penalty, Google may ultimately choose which is “the better version” to rank on your behalf.

Conclusion

Duplicating a post/page is a feature you probably didn’t know you needed until now (at least this has been my case, personally).

I will certainly find some great uses to increase blogging productivity, especially when publishing polls and surveys that often use similar tags and images.

Can you think of other uses and tasks? Please share your ideas on any of our social media channels!