How to edit a WordPress page when the same text is on twelve pages
To edit a WordPress page, go to Pages → All Pages, click the title, correct the text in the block editor and click Update. When the same information, such as opening hours or a phone number, sits on many pages, find every place first and only then start changing. The footer, menus and page builder pages are edited elsewhere.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for WordPress site and WooCommerce store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 7 min read
New opening hours and twelve pages to fix
Monday, 7:50. From November a physiotherapy clinic opens at eight instead of nine, and on Saturdays it sees patients until two. The owner knows the hours are on the Contact page. After fifteen minutes of searching it turns out they are also on every service page, in the price list, in two advice posts and in the footer. Twelve pages and three other places in total.
Editing one page takes a moment. The trouble starts when you don't know where else the same text lives. One missed place is enough for a patient to turn up at a locked door.
Where in WordPress does the text you want to change live?
Before you start, work out where the text is. In WordPress, page content, the footer, menus and page builder layouts are stored in different places, and each is edited differently.
| Where you see the text | Where you change it | Will the chat change it |
|---|---|---|
| Page or post content (paragraphs, headings, lists) | Pages or Posts, block or classic editor | yes, with a preview and after your approval |
| Page title and post excerpt | the same edit screen | yes |
| Menu items | Appearance → Menus or the Site Editor | yes, in menus from Appearance → Menus; navigation from the Site Editor you change yourself |
| Footer, sidebar, widgets | Appearance → Widgets or the Site Editor (template parts) | yes, in TellMyShop Pro after you turn on the Theme switch for 24 hours |
| Page built with Elementor, Divi and similar | the page builder itself | no, the chat only reads and points to the place |
| WooCommerce product description | Products, product edit screen | yes, through the product catalogue tools |
How to spot a page builder: after clicking Edit you see a large button with the builder's name, or an empty editor with a note that the page is edited in another tool.
How to change text on one page in the block editor
On a page built in the normal WordPress editor the change takes a few clicks. The editor is described in detail in the WordPress block editor documentation.
- In the Dashboard go to Pages → All Pages (for posts: Posts → All Posts).
- Hover over the page title and click Edit.
- Click the paragraph with the text to change. Type as you would in a word processor.
- If the text is in a table, a button or columns, click exactly that element. Each of them is a separate block.
- Click Update in the top right corner.
- Open the page in a private browser window and check that you see the new version. If not, clear the cache in your caching plugin.
On a page made with a page builder you do the same, only inside the builder. For Elementor, the Elementor help page on the text editor widget shows it step by step.
How to find every page with the same text
Searching is the most important part of the job. The list of pages in the Dashboard has a search box that looks through titles and content.
Type in a fragment that is sure to repeat, for example “9:00”. Keep it short, because the same information is often written differently on different pages: “9:00-17:00”, “9 to 5”, “9-5”. Repeat the search on the list of posts. Check the phone number in a few spellings, with and without spaces.
Then go through the places the search can't see: the footer, the sidebar, menus, page builder pages and the contact form. Our guide to the WordPress menu explains how to fix menus. Finally there is the world outside your site. You change the hours in Google Maps and Search in your business profile, as described in Google's help on opening hours.
Changing text on many pages at once in a chat
The TellMyShop plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce connects your site to your chat (Claude or ChatGPT). The chat searches for the text across all posts and pages, shows every place and proposes a “before → after” change for each page separately. Along the way it can point out places that look similar but mean something else.
You: We have new hours from November. Wherever it says Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00 and Saturday closed, put Mon-Fri 8:00-16:00 and Saturday 10:00-14:00.
Your chat: I found the old hours on 12 pages and in 3 posts. Two pages, Home and Offers, are built with Elementor. I won't change those, but I'll tell you which element holds the hours. Preview for the rest, for example:
Your chat: The 2023 post “We are opening a second clinic” describes the old hours as history. I suggest leaving it alone. The hours in the footer sit in a widget, which is a job for whoever looks after the site.
You: Yes, save the 10 pages and 2 posts.
Your chat: Saved, with an operation number in the change history. If something looks wrong, write “undo the last change”.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”Getting here and parking:
old version: We are open Mon-Fri 9:00-17:00, closed on Saturdays.
new version: We are open Mon-Fri 8:00-16:00, Saturdays 10:00-14:00.
Post “How to prepare for your first visit”:
old version: Reception is open from 9:00 to 17:00.
new version: Reception is open from 8:00 to 16:00.
In TellMyShop Free the chat only reads. It will find every place with the old text, recognise page builder pages and prepare a “before → after” list for you to copy by hand. In TellMyShop Pro it saves the changes itself, up to 50 pages and posts in one batch and up to 30 replacements on one page. Every save goes the same way: a preview, your clear “yes”, the save and an operation number you can undo.
The preview also warns you about side effects that are easy to miss. When the new content is much shorter than the old one, the chat says so. When a change would touch the address of a published page, the plugin adds a redirect from the old address so you don't end up with a 404 error. Saving content works as soon as the licence is active, with no switch.
What the chat won't change, and who will
This list decides whether this method suits you.
Layouts from Elementor, Divi and other page builders. These builders keep the content in their own format, and the normal editor only shows a copy. The chat will read such a page and point to where the old text is. You change it yourself in the builder, or the person who looks after the site does.
Footer, sidebar, widgets and theme templates. These are design changes. The chat can make them in TellMyShop Pro after you turn on the Theme switch in the plugin panel. The switch works for 24 hours and needs a database backup made the same day. A copy of each file is made before it is changed.
Your Google business profile, directory listings, email signatures. These are places outside your site and the chat doesn't touch them.
What to check after changing the text
Open the home page, Contact and one service page in a private window. Check the mobile version, because the theme sometimes shows a different footer layout there. If the site uses a caching plugin, clear the cache after saving.
Finally, look at the places outside the site: your Google business profile, social media and your email signature.
If you have more pages than time to go through them, see how TellMyShop for WordPress and WooCommerce works, and you'll find licence prices on the pricing page. More guides are on the blog.
Questions and answers
Where do I change the text on a page in WordPress?
Go to Pages → All Pages, hover over the title and click Edit. Click the paragraph, correct the text and click Update in the top right corner. Blog posts work the same way, only from the Posts menu.
I clicked Edit and instead of the editor I see an Edit with Elementor button. What now?
That page was built with a page builder. You change its text in the builder itself: open it with that button, click the text element and edit it in the panel on the left. Changes typed into the normal WordPress editor usually won't reach the page.
How do I find every page that still shows the old phone number?
Type the number into the search box above the list of pages, then above the list of posts. WordPress searches titles and content. Try a few spellings, with and without spaces, because to the search each spelling is different text. This search doesn't look in the footer, widgets or menus.
Does changing the text on a page change its address?
No. The address only changes if you edit the permalink field, the end of the address in the page settings. You can change the text and the title without affecting the address or the links pointing to the page.
Will the chat change text on pages built with Elementor or Divi?
No. The chat will read such a page and tell you where the old text is, but we don't edit page builder layouts. On pages made in the block editor or the classic editor it saves changes after your approval, with a preview of each one.
WordPress is a trademark of the WordPress Foundation. WooCommerce is a trademark of Automattic Inc. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.