How To

When you’re repeatedly posting the same things – like a new release post or a coming soon or something else that’s very standard – you might want to save yourself some work in formatting and just… duplicate the post.

This is a surprisingly easy thing to do in modern WordPress, and I’m going to show you two ways to do so. One way uses a duplication plugin and the other uses the native block functionality in WordPress.

First, using a plugin.

Duplicating A Post With A Plugin

There are lots of plugins out there in the WordPress repository, but when it comes to duplicating a plugin, there is one that makes it all effortless while the remaining utterly behind the scenes. . No settings, no options – just does what it says it does. This is the Post Duplicator plugin by Metaphor Creations. It’s free, simple, and works very well.

To use it, add it to your website via the Plugins function in your website and activate the plugin. Once that’s done, go to the Posts->All Posts section of your website’s dashboard. At that screen, you’ll see all of your existing blog posts. Go to the one you want to duplicate and hover your cursor over the title. This brings up some options and will look like the screenshot below.

Click on the “Duplicate Post” option, highlighted in the image, and voila! The post will be duplicated.

From there, go to the post and edit it to make changes to reflect what you want the new post to be.

Save and publish when ready. Easy Peasy.

Copy All Blocks

When WordPress went to a block based editor, it opened up the door to manipulate content in ways that it never could have before. One of those ways is to “Copy All Blocks” which is a very useful function and makes it very easy to duplicate a post without a plugin very quickly and very easily.

To do this, go to a Post or Page you want to duplicate and click to “Edit” that post so you can see it in the post editor, much like the screenshot below.

Once in the editor of the content you want to duplicate, you can click the “Three Dot” edit menu in the top right corner of the screen and then select the “Copy All Blocks” option. This will copy everything that exists in the Page or Post.

You can then go to click on “New” at the top of the screen and select the type of content you want to create (eg a New Post) and then, in that editor screen, simply “Paste” the blocks you just copied. Once done, you’ll see it duplicated the content perfectly.

This is actually my preferred method to duplicate content. Works perfectly every time.

Special Bonus: Patterns

Another function of the block editor is the option to create a pattern that can be reused. This comes in very handy when you want to create content that has the same layout, but you don’t want to keep editing and writing over the duplicated content. You just want the layout, giving you the ability to free in all of the rest.

You do that by going to Post->Add New Post and open up a fresh editing screen.

In the post editor, you’ll see the little black box with a plus in it. That is the insert function of blocks and patterns. Clicking on that opens up the block modal that lets you find the block or pattern you’re looking for. Since there are usually dozens of such items in your website, I find it easier and faster to use the search function to find what you’re looking for.

In this example, shown above, I searched for the “author interview” pattern – and it is dynamic search, so you don’t even have to type the whole term in to find what you want.

Once you see the block or pattern you want to use, just click on it.

As you can see, once the pattern is clicked it will be inserted right into the post and you can just edit it as you need to from there. It even gives you a nice little notification to let you know the action it took.

Simple, effective, repeatable.

I use this function a lot when for adding new book pages to websites. I build that pattern when designing the site and then apply it each time a new book is added. Works really, really well.

Wrap Up

And that’s it – this little How To is a short and sweet one that I hope you find useful

I have spent a lot of time on author email, lately.

Like, A LOT.

In fact, author email has been the most worked item for ModFarm Support over the last 6 months. In reflecting on this, this stems from a combination of reasons, and, even more so, a combination of misconceptions.

Resulting from all of this, I’ve put together my recommendations for Author Email: what works best, what to do, and how to do it.

Ready? Let’s do this!

The Search For Branded Email

Nearly 100% of the author email problems I’ve encountered center around branded emails.

A branded email is something that looks like name@authorname.com. Everyone wants these as they feel it’s important for branding. However, most services these days charge for this, anywhere from $4/mo to $22/mo depending on what the author wants. And this is where the problem arises, as most authors don’t want to pay for this, they look to all kinds of ways to not – from using host provided webmail to signing up for bargain basement services.

As a service provider, I try and help authors with what they need – they say they want branded email, I do my best to help them. Which, on my end, usually means adding the required DNS records to their domains.

But, I’ve begun to reconsider this. I’ve begun to think that maybe that’s not helping. Maybe that’s making things worse.

I now think that the best way to help authors with their email needs is not to simply enter in the DNS records they send me. Perhaps, instead, the best thing I can do is revisit the assumptions and provide a better path for not only branded email, but for their entire email strategy.

One that’s safer, more effective, more efficient, and, almost always, completely free.

First, A Little About Email

Email is old tech. It is, arguably, the original framework of the internet. When a certain presidential candidate was saying he invented the internet, he was meaning modern email – not the world wide web (and he was incorrect anyway – just sayin’).

The original internet was created as an information messaging backbone for communicating after the world had gone to hell. It was devised as a way for universities and government to communicate and share necessary information for survival of some pretty bad scenarios. This groundbreaking solution was email. The first of which was sent in 1971 over the original ARPANET.

Bottom line: It’s old. As old as the web can get.

The good news is that means email is incredibly reliable – it works and works and works. As far as communication backbones go, it’s practically bulletproof.

The bad news is it’s very old. And, like many old things (and people), it’s crotchety, particular, and not overly flexible. Basically, it is what it is and it ain’t going to change.

It’s governed by a particular DNS record type called MX (Mail Exchange). Domains only get one MX record. I’m going to say that again louder: You only get ONE MX record.

Because email is so old and basic, as the web (and its predators) expanded, more tools were brought into play to ensure an email was real. This is where things like SPF, DKIM, and Domain Verification come into play. Also, as email needs expanded (images along with text, mass delivery, tracking codes, etc), services were created to manage, filter, and protect people from malicious email. And then to report about said malicious email. And then to report on the reporting of said emails (ie DMARC).

All of these are governed by various DNS records at the domain level – TXT and CNAME records are the usual means for those. So, to verify a domain, an email provider may want you to add a TXT record with some code to verify the domain, and then a few CNAME records to provide DKIM authentication, and maybe another TXT record for SPF authentication. And, then yet another TXT record for DMARC authentication.

However, even this wasn’t enough. Google, as part of its groundbreaking Gmail service, put scanning tools in place to automatically understand, categorize, filter, and profit off of email. That’s why you have Primary, Promotion, and Social email inboxes. Those tools, over the years, got a little more refined, adopted a little AI, and got more aggressive against spammers – which not only annoy users, but also compete against Google’s Gmail based advertising systems.

Email is old but, as you can see and experience, over the last 50+ years it has had systems upon systems layered on top of it.

Now, back to how email can be made easier for everyone…

Author Email the ModFarm Way

Authors have several requirements for their email, and they’re similar to any other business.

1. It needs to work and be hassle free
2. Easy to use and set up
3. Branded emails for marketing purposes
4. Branded emails for Newsletter sending purposes
5. Not trip any email spam/filtering services
6. Cheap or free

To these I would also add the following:

1. Convenient to use
2. Hosting independent
3. Built in housekeeping/organization

When I say “convenient to use” what I mean is its easily accessible to any device at any time – usually through an app.

“Hosting independent” means you should be able to migrate your website to new hosting services without complicated export/import procedures or outright loss of your email data.

And “housekeeping/organization” means that the email process you choose should make your life and business more organized and efficient and not less. You shouldn’t have to work very hard to check your email.

Given all this, how to best go about it? How can authors set up their email to accomplish ALL of these goals?

Well, we’ve figured that out. A way to – no joke, no bullshit – leverage email and its various systems to achieve ALL email objectives, including keeping it free.

We start by throwing out your assumptions.

What You Actually Need vs What You Think You Need

The usual request for email support comes in as something very similar to this: “Mail Service X requires I have a branded email address to send my newsletters. Give me branded email.“

To this, I give an answer similar to: “Do you want full email or forwarded email? Full email requires an email client and forwarded email we just connect a fake branded email to your current email.“

Authors, almost without fail, request “full email.” And, I realize this is largely my fault as when phrased as it is above, full email seems like the better option.

It isn’t. At all.

That sounds cryptic, I know. The reason I say this is that full email is more complicated to set up, requires more infrastructure, is less flexible, is less expandable, and, generally costs more.

For most authors, it would have very little benefit over alternatives – and can even be detrimental in most cases.

Remember, you only really need branded email for sending newsletters. That’s what you NEED it for. It’s also really easy to have on a business card or to use at cons and personal meets and stuff like that. Anything beyond that is just gravy.

The key here is to stay focused on what you need, not what you think you need to do to go about getting it. Let the actual requirements drive the solution instead of the perceived solution dictating your actions.

To that end, I recommend adopting a Core Email Address with a major provider (Gmail, Outlook, or Proton) and then use Forwarding Email Addresses to provide the necessary branding.

How would that work? I’ll make up a hypothetical example and walk you through it.

Set Yourself Up For Success

The basic idea is to have a single Core Email Address and then funnel things to it.

To do this, the first thing you’ll do is set up a free Gmail account that looks something like this: authorname@gmail.com

Now, that part’s done. This email address can both send and receive, which is a majority of your functionality. You now have a working email address that has your author name and/or pen name or sobriquet in it. It is recognizable as you. This is your Core Email Address.

Next, we add in the branding part. This is done by creating a Forwarding Email Address. You would do this from your site’s hosting. The primary purpose of this first forwarded email is to have a branded email address that can be used as a sending address for your Newsletter. This will use up your one allotted MX record, but it allows you to make an infinite number of email addresses.

To create this, you would go to your website host and follow the directions for a Forwarded Email Address. That email would look something like this: me@authorname.com and it would be forwarded to authorname@gmail.com which means anything send to me@authorname.com will automatically, through the magic of DNS records and internet protocols, be delivered to authorname@gmail.com

And that is done. You have a functional email (authorname@gmail.com) and a branded email (me@authorname.com). You can now do the things you absolutely need to do. And, you still only have one single email account to manage. Everything is going to the Core Email Address. There are no other inboxes or accounts. It’s all in one place.

To validate this new branded sending email for your Newsletter service, you would follow your newsletter’s validation directions and enter the DNS records they specify into your website’s DNS records. This will most likely be a TXT record for SPF and multiple CNAME records for DKIM. If you don’t already have one, you’ll also need to enter a TXT record for DMARC. Your newsletter service will have directions for all of this.

Easy Expansion

At this point, we can talk about scaling.

For example, you might want to have, for marketing purposes, several other branded emails. contact@authorname.com for example. Maybe you have had some success and want to bring on an assistant. Maybe you have an expediter for your online store and you want them copied in. Maybe a marketing partner. There are dozens of reasons to expand your branded email.

And, it’s very easy to do with forwarding email. Just go create more Forwarding Email Addresses. Have contact@authorname.com go to your assistant’s email at yourassistant@gmail.com. Create sales@authorname.com go to your expediter at yourexpediter@gmail.com.

Once created, anytime an email is sent to those email addresses, it goes straight to your team’s respective emails. No muss, no fuss.

It is infinitely expandable. Most hosts have no limit to forwarding emails – I know we at ModFarm don’t. You can build up and scale as large as you need to. For free.

Resist Complication and Embrace Simplicity

At this point is where authors bring in complications. “How can I send an email as me@authorname.com?” is a common question.

Normally, I provide links on how to create alias emails via whatever service they are using and things break down in a hurry.

So, I’m not going to do that here. Instead, I’m going to ask a very simple question: Why do you want to do that?

Seriously. Why do you feel this is important? Do you think your readers care what the email address is? I’ve known a lot of very successful authors who have communicated for years and years with their clients, publishers, con personnel, publicists, and everyone else in their professional sphere with a simple Gmail address: authorname@gmail.com.

Do you really think your assistant needs branded email? Your expediter? Anyone?

The answer is very simple: no, they do not. Nor do you.

If you want to do that, go ahead. It’s totally fine. Spend $22/mo for maxxed out Google Workspace if you want to – it’s totally up to you. But that is a personal choice and has no bearing, whatsoever, with communicating with your readers or your team or anyone else in your professional life.

I recommend, most strongly, that authors look to their actual needs when making professional decisions.

By using a Core Email Address and leveraging Forwarding Email Addresses, you are setting yourself up for a very long term and extremely easy communications strategy that will scale as you grow and will remain flexible as your team changes.

For example, if contact@authorname.com is forwarded to your assistant at assistant@gmail.com and two years from now your assistant changes careers and you get a new assistant – you don’t need to add a new team member to WorkSpace, pay an extra seat fee, and change everything you have to newcontact@authorname.com. All you have to do is change the destination of the Forwarding Email Address to the new assistant’s email at newassistant@gmail.com. Everything else remains the same. No changes to websites, business cards, online forms, or anything else. It’s smooth and immediate and completely free.

Using An Alias

Even after the above, there will be those who just can’t let it go and their OCD will drive them crazy if they can’t send an email as me@authorname.com.

I get it. I do. And, so do the major email providers.

They do this by creating an Alias. This is just what it sounds like – it substitutes an external email address in the header block of your primary email address. Or to put it in the lingo of this post, it gives you the option of making email sent from authorname@gmail.com look like it was sent by me@authorname.com.

This gives the appearance of full branded email without any of the cost or headaches of having full branded email.

There is a downside, though. It can be complicated to set up.

Here is Gmail’s directions on creating an Alias. And here is Gmail’s directions on using that Alias as the sending address. The other major providers have similar directions for creating and using an Alias email address.

Do you need to do this? No, you do not. You do not need to have an Alias or any kind of sending power to use your Forwarding Email Address to send emails via your Newsletter Service. You do not need an Alias to do anything. However, if you want to create one and use it as a sending address, there are ways to do so.

But, I caution you, setting up an Alias gets surprisingly complicated and the major tech companies are not known for their customer service. I repeat: an Alias is absolutely NOT necessary.

Getting Organized

Most email providers allow for smart folders. These are folders set up with rules on what to do with incoming email.

For example, anything sent from sales@authorname.com could be automatically sent to a “Website Sales” folder in your Core Email Address’ Inbox.

Same for any other kind of incoming email. contact@authorname.com could go to a Smart Folder for that purpose.

The idea here is to use the inherent means of the major email providers to simplify and organize your business. To keep everything neat, tidy, and easy to find.

Forwarding emails also allow you to have more control over your digital destiny. For example, you are hosting your website with Dreamhost and you are unhappy with them and want to switch to another hosting company. But, your branded email is via Dreamhost’s webmail that was so nicely included in the hosting package. If you change hosts, you lose access to this email, and migrating from webmail is an absolute mess. You’re effectively trapped – which is why they provided that sucky free webmail.

But, if you have a Core Email Address with a major provider, you can change hosts at any time. Just change. Once you get there, add the same forwarding addresses you had at the previous host and everything will proceed as if nothing had ever happened at all. No one would know anything had changed and your emails would be perfectly preserved.

Wrapping Up

As you can probably see by now, the purpose of all of this is to use the email systems to empower yourself as an author and a businessperson.

If you set it up properly, you can reduce stress, cost, and give yourself more freedom and capability. You can effortlessly expand your team, organize your correspondence, and generally make life a lot easier for yourself.

Email does not have to be complicated. Stick to what you need and you’ll be better off than you think.

Ever have one of the things happen in your life that completely challenges your belief in something you had taken for truth?

I have. For me, it was a cheeseburger, and it changed my entire concept of author websites and book marketing.

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