Using WordPress for Websites

By default, WordPress is set up to be used for blogging. The home page lists your posts in reverse chronological order. However, WordPress can also be used as an effective Content Management System for small websites.

To use WordPress for a website, most of your content will be created in Pages instead of Posts. Pages are used for static content that is not time sensitive like a Post. Your Posts will be displayed on another Page. We have more information about Posts vs. Page on our Hints and Tips page.

To set up WordPress as a Site

Plan Your Site

Before you begin, you should think about the type of content you want on your website. You may have only a few pages, or you may have a lot of content that needs to be organized. Planning ahead will save you some time as you create the site, making it easier to manage and making it easier for your readers to find your content.

Create Your Pages

You will need to have at least two pages. One will be your Home Page and the other will display your Posts.

Create your Home Page

1. Create and publish a new Page with your home page content.
   This will become your front page.
   1. From the Dashboard – Pages > Add New
   2. Type in a Page Title
   3. Type in your home page content
   4. Click the Publishbutton.
      

Create your Posts Page

1. Create and publish a new Page to hold your Posts.
   This page will act like the default home page of a blog and display your recent posts. You may use this for a blog or for news items for your website.
   1. From the Dashboard – Pages > Add New
   2. Type in a Page Title like  Posts, Blog, News, etc.
   3. Do not put any content in the body.
   4. Click Publish.
      

Configure the Reading Settings

1. From the Dashboard -  Settings > Reading
2. Change “Front page displays” to “A static page“.
3. From the Front page drop-down menu, select the Home Page you created above.
4. From the Posts page drop-down menu, select the Posts page you created above.
5. Click Save Changes.
   

Your site is now set up to show a static home page. Posts will show up on your new Posts page as news items, blog postings, etc.

Organizing Your Pages

You can continue to create new pages for your site. To keep your site organized, consider creating sub-pages or child pages, by using the Parent drop-down menu in the Page Attributes panel when creating or editing pages. The drop-down menu contains a list of all the Pages already created for your site. To turn your current Page into a SubPage, or “Child” of the “Parent” Page, select the appropriate Page from the drop-down menu. If you specify a Parent other than “Main Page (no parent)” from the list, the Page you are now editing will be made a Child of that selected Page. When your Pages are listed, the Child Page will be nested under the Parent Page. The Permalinks of your Pages will also reflect this Page hierarchy.