We all know that there is more to a book than the cover. Now that you’ve got your cover set up, you need some intriguing pages. Today we are going to talk about different types of pages your WordPress blog can have and how to create each type of page.
Blog
The blog page is also referred to as as a blog roll, news feed, blog feed, and posts. This page displays your blog posts in reverse chronological order, by default. We have a separate tutorial for writing a blog post. By default, the blog roll is the home page. You can change this by going to your WordPress dashboard – Settings – Reading.
Static Pages
Static pages are usually timeless content that provide useful information to your readers. Common pages found on blogs are: about page, contact page, privacy policy, and a site map.
How to create a static page
From your WordPress dashboard, go to Pages – Add new.
After writing your title and content, you can decide what layout you want the page to be. For some of my pages I use a 1 column page, opposed to the 2 column page that my blog roll displays.
After you’ve made all your desired modifications, hit publish!
Wondering where the page is? By default, pages don’t automatically show up in your menu.
How to add page to navigation menu
If you want this page to show up in your navigation menu you can adjust those settings in Appearance – Menus. Click the title of the page you want to add to a menu and then click Add to Menu. The page link will show up at the bottom of your menu structure. You can move it around to the order you want it to appear on your menu.
If you want a page to be a sub page on them menu, indent the box. For example, I put our plugins page under the resource page.
End by clicking Save Menu
Category Pages
Category Pages are pages that display blog posts within a certain category. For example, if you hover over our Blog title on the menu, you will see different categories listed below. When you click on How to Start a Blog, you will see all the posts in our series how to start a blog.
Category pages are very helpful for bloggers! If you are a photographer, you can use category pages to display weddings, families, senior portraits, etc. If you are a mommy blogger, you can use category pages to display craft projects, recipes, diy projects, etc. When you are writing your posts, pay close attention to which category you publish it in. I frequently forget to select a category and then realize a little later that I didn’t file the post under a category. Not very productive of me. Anyway, back to the important stuff.
Create a Category Page
From you WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance – Menus. Click the category you would like to appear on your menu. Once you’ve added it to the menu, arrange where you would like it to be displayed on the menu.
Now, when readers click on that tab, they will view all posts from that particular category.
Q: What pages do you have on your blog?
I want to thank you so much for this list. I pinned it and kept going back to it. I’m sure that I have room for improvement but loved having a guide. I was able to get my site/blog up and running in just over a week. I’ll continue to fuss with it of course. I’m guessing we all do.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
This comment made my weekend, thank you! Yes, you’re right: the tweaking never ends!
Hi Kristie!
I wanted to thank you so much for writing this awesome blog. It was such a huge help to me. I basically followed your information step-by-step without any glitches to speak of. I haven’t launched my site yet but I’m getting there with your help!
Thanks again,
Lisa Fear
You’re welcome Lisa! It’s so nice to hear feedback. I have a post coming next week about how to launch your site! You’ll love it.
Hi Kristie! Thanks for all of the helpful tips. I have static pages set up on my home page (“Home”, “Health”, “Beauty”, “Style”, “Travel”, etc.), and I want my blog posts for each of those topics to show up on those pages (like they do in the blog roll). Currently, if you click on them they’re all blank, except for “Blog”. If you click on the drop-down categories under each page, that’s where the blog posts show up. Did I set mine up wrong? Should I change all of the top menu buttons so they are categories instead of pages? I need to fix it before I get too many more posts on my blog, because I notice people are clicking on “Travel” instead of the drop-down categories below it, then they’re leaving bc they think there aren’t any posts. Yikes! Thanks and Happy 4th. 🙂 ~Erin (site: sandsunandmessybuns.com)
Hi Erin, yes, it sounds like you want category pages instead of static pages (where you would have to add content manually – yuck).
First, you will need to go and create the categories Health, Style, Travel, and Beauty. (from your WordPress dashboard go to Posts > Categories
Then go to your posts and quick edit each post to add the correct category to each post.
Now that you’re categorized accurately, go change your menu and delete the pages you created and add the category links.
Hope that helps!
Thanks Kristie! You’re the best! That’s been bugging me for weeks and I just fixed it in 10 minutes thanks to you. Have a Happy 4th!
Do you have any directions to set up a category page in Blogger?
Hi. They are labels and the only way to add them as a page is to:
1. Click on one of your labels from a post
2. Copy that URL.
3. Go to your layout page and click pages, then add external link. Past the URL and give it a title. Good luck.
Hello I want to thank you for the detailed post about how to start a blog. I just started mine and am lost at what to do next our how to do it… Please if you wouldn’t mind browsing over my page and giving me a few suggestions, I worked really appreciate that… And saying thank you!
I would love to, the link attached to your name doesn’t work – would you send me your URL?
Thanks so much! I was able to just to modify my top menu using categories. Now the layout format…is that option available only with some themes? I have a very basic one right now and haven’t shopped around for another one yet.
Yes, sorry I should have mentioned that. Not all themes include different layout options. Good job on the categories though!