When publishing posts or pages with WordPress (WP), you are given the option of using the visual editor or the HTML editor. Most folks use the visual editor, but there are times when you need to the HTML editor.
For example, if you want to embed a video, from Vimeo, Blip.TV, Youtube or metacafe, on one of your pages or posts, then you will need to copy the embed code provided to you by VIMEO and paste this code into the HTML editor of one of your pages or posts. Importantly, if you paste this code into the visual editor, problems could ensue.
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. For a browser to read the content on a website, the content has to be “marked” up in this special language. The Visual editor provides these marks for you without you having to know HTML.
One challenge when using the visual editor (aka the WYSIWYG, What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) is when you copy text from another software that has already marked up the text. When you copy text from Microsoft Word, for example, be sure to paste using the WordPress option, PASTE FROM WORD, or you will get a bunch of HTML you don’t want. You don’t want the text on your website to display in an inconsistent font or font-size for example. So make a habit of pasting text from a plain text editor, typing it directly into the post or page, or using the PASTE FROM WORD option.