How to Use WordPress and Divi Builder to Power Your Chamber or Nonprofit Blog
For chambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations, maintaining an active and well-organized blog can be one of the most effective ways to share updates, promote events, highlight initiatives, and engage your community. In this step-by-step walkthrough, Virgin—a WordPress and Divi expert—guides a team of chamber staff members through the process of building and publishing blog content using WordPress and the Divi Builder interface.
What follows is a complete overview of the techniques and insights shared during this workshop. Whether you’re new to WordPress or just need to clean up an existing blog, this post will help you create a content flow that is consistent, engaging, and easy to manage.
Why WordPress and Divi Matter for Nonprofits
Many small organizations struggle with updating their websites due to technical complexity, slow loading speeds, or simply not knowing where to begin. WordPress, especially when paired with a visual tool like Divi, solves many of these problems. It allows teams to build polished, customizable posts without coding knowledge.
More importantly, when used correctly, WordPress enables better SEO, easier navigation, and stronger user engagement—all critical for nonprofits trying to build awareness and drive traffic.
Step 1: Navigating the Dashboard and Setting Up a Post
Virgin starts the training by demonstrating how to enter the WordPress dashboard and begin a new blog post. One key feature emphasized is setting your post title before launching the Divi Builder. This anchors your post and ensures proper categorization later.
From there, the team explores how to:
Select or create blog categories
Upload a featured image
Set SEO-friendly permalinks
Save drafts for future publishing
The process may seem simple at first, but each of these elements plays a crucial role in how the post will display and how users (and search engines) will find it.
Step 2: Understanding the Power of the Divi Builder
Rather than writing directly in the WordPress editor, Virgin encourages using Divi to maintain consistent layout and branding. Divi allows users to clone existing post layouts, build sections using pre-set modules (text, images, buttons, etc.), and visually design the article in a way that mirrors the rest of the site.
When building a post, the process generally includes:
Creating a new text module for article content
Copy-pasting article copy using the “text” tab (not “visual”) to strip unnecessary formatting
Adding links and making them open in new tabs
Uploading image modules and setting image size/alignment
Inserting section headers or stylized dividers
Optionally including buttons or call-to-actions
Virgin also touches on common mistakes, like pasting directly from Mailchimp or Google Docs, which can introduce messy code. Always use the text view for clean content.
Step 3: Setting and Using Featured Images
Featured images are not just cosmetic—they play a functional role in SEO and social sharing. Virgin explains that featured images will often be pulled when you share a post on platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.
However, she notes that many WordPress templates will automatically display the featured image above the post, sometimes making it excessively large. To work around this, she disables the default setting and instead places the image manually in the post for better control.
Pro tip: Establish a standard image size for all blog posts (such as 800×600 pixels) to keep your blog grid clean and consistent.
Step 4: Categorizing for Better User Navigation
With content and images in place, the team saves drafts, exits the visual builder, and returns to the backend for final tweaks. Virgin walks through how to:
Adjust post dates (useful for future-scheduled content)
Set author names (with caution around usernames, as they appear publicly)
Use quick-edit tools for batch changes
Unpublish old posts without deleting them
This kind of back-end control is what makes WordPress such a powerful CMS once you get the hang of it.
Step 5: Editing, Saving, and Publishing
With content and images in place, the team saves drafts, exits the visual builder, and returns to the backend for final tweaks. Virgin walks through how to:
Adjust post dates (useful for future-scheduled content)
Set author names (with caution around usernames, as they appear publicly)
Use quick-edit tools for batch changes
Unpublish old posts without deleting them
This kind of back-end control is what makes WordPress such a powerful CMS once you get the hang of it.
Step 6: Creating and Managing User Roles
Finally, Virgin shows how to create user roles for each team member. By assigning roles like “Author” or “Editor,” organizations can control who can write, edit, and publish posts.
She explains:
“Authors” can create and publish their own posts
“Contributors” can draft content, but not publish it
“Editors” can oversee and modify others’ posts
“Administrators” have full control over the website
It’s important to set clear naming conventions for usernames, as they appear on blog posts as authors (e.g., “MembershipChair” instead of “admin123”).
Using Posts to Drive Website Traffic
Throughout the session, the emphasis remains on not just publishing content, but using blog posts strategically to drive web traffic. With a regular publishing cadence and posts categorized properly, chambers and nonprofits can turn their blog into a living newsroom that showcases programs, achievements, partnerships, and upcoming events.
By embedding “read more” links in email newsletters and social media, organizations can lead users back to their site, boosting engagement and discoverability.
Final Thoughts: Make Blogging a Team Effort
Virgin ends the session by encouraging everyone on the team to participate in the blog process—from writing to uploading to assigning categories. With clear roles, shared image standards, and consistent use of Divi, any team can maintain a professional and compelling digital presence.
By mastering these WordPress basics, your organization can transform its website from a static brochure into a dynamic hub that connects, informs, and grows your community.
Want to Join the Movement?
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