Beginners to WordPress often get confused between pages vs posts. When you are new, it is necessary to understand the difference between pages and posts in WordPress when laying out your website.
When you install the free and open-source WordPress.org software on your web hosting, it comes, by default, with two different content post types, which are pages and posts. It is also possible to create custom post types.
In this beginners guide, we will explain WordPress pages vs posts including, when you should use WordPress pages, when you should use WordPress posts, and how to add and edit them.
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WordPress Pages vs Posts: What’s the Difference?
Although WordPress pages and posts look and seem similar, they are both unique and serve specific functions. A WordPress page is static, and a WordPress post is dynamic.
What are Pages in WordPress? And When to Use them?
WordPress pages are meant for static content and are not meant to have an expiration date or timestamp. They are not listed by date. Although the WordPress database stores the published date of a page, pages are reserved for timeless information.
For instance, your about page shouldn’t have a date attached to it. Sure, you can edit and update it. But it wouldn’t make sense to have an About page 2021, About 2022, and so on.
Moreover, since there is no time and date tied to a WordPress page by default, pages are not included in your RSS feeds.
Popular uses for WordPress Pages are:
- An about page
- A privacy policy page
- A contact page
- Custom category pages
- Custom tag pages
- And, of course, your home page.
To add or edit a page in WordPress, select Pages from the left side of the admin area. To create a new page simply click the Add New button.
To edit a WordPress page, hover over the page you want to edit and click the edit link.
WordPress pages are also not intended to be social. And in most cases, do not include any social sharing buttons. This is also true for comments.
For example, you will most likely not want others tweeting your privacy policy or commenting on your contact page.
However, comments can be enabled for individual pages but are turned off by default.
It is also possible to add social sharing to a page, if desired, by using the Social Icons Block or a social sharing plugin.
Unlike WordPress posts, pages are hierarchical, which means that they can have a parent-child relationship. A WordPress page can have one or more sub-pages. This allows you to organize pages together since there are no categories.
Additionally, pages have an order feature that allows you to further organize them by assigning a number value.
Finally, WordPress pages have a feature that enables developers to create custom page templates to customize the look of each page. An example of this is TarttWeb’s Glossary page.
Now that you have learned about WordPress pages. Let us take a look at posts and how they are different.
What are Posts in WordPress? And When to Use them?
WordPress posts are intended for dynamic content that is considered timely, which includes the author and a published/updated timestamp.
Posts are your blog content, which can be found on your blog page. They are entries listed by date in a reversed chronological order. This means that your newest blog posts will start at the top with your oldest at the bottom.
You can think of them as articles that can be shared to offer new content to your readers. If your WordPress website is being used as a blog, you will use posts for most of your content.
Posts can be found in categories, archives, tags, widgets, and your blog’s RSS feeds.
To add or edit a post in WordPress, select Posts from the left side of the admin area. To add a new post simply click the Add New button.
To edit a WordPress post, hover over the post you want to edit and click the edit link.
Posts can be displayed on your website in different ways. You can use the Blog Posts block or set your posts page by going to Settings > Reading.
You can also mark a post as sticky, which means it will be pinned at the top of your blog before any other posts. This is not possible with WordPress pages.
WordPress posts are meant to be timely, with older ones archived by month and year. The more posts are published, the longer the list will become, making it harder to find older ones. You can use categories and tags to help keep them organized.
With time and date in mind, WordPress posts are syndicated through the RSS feeds. This allows your readers to be notified via RSS feeds of your most recent posts.
RSS feeds can be utilized to deliver email broadcasts through newsletter services such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Aweber. These services can help you create daily, weekly, and monthly newsletters for your readers to subscribe to.
Because posts are intended to be timely, this makes them very social. You can use the Social Icons Block or one of the many social sharing plugins to share your posts on social media.
Posts come with a built-in comment feature to encourage conversation and allow readers to comment on a particular topic. Comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks are enabled by default.
Comments on older posts can be turned off if you like by going to Settings > Discussion.
Now that you have learned about WordPress posts let’s have a look at the key differences between pages vs posts and their similarities.
WordPress Pages vs Posts (Key Differences)
Here is a summary of the differences between pages and posts in WordPress.
- Posts are timely. Pages are timeless.
- Posts are social. Pages are not.
- Posts can be organized using categories and tags. Pages are hierarchical and can be ordered and organized as parent and child pages.
- Posts are included in RSS feeds. Pages are not.
- Posts have author and published/updated date. Pages do not.
Even though pages and posts are different, there are also some similarities between them.
WordPress Pages vs Posts (Similarities)
Here is a summary of the similarities between pages and posts in WordPress.
- Title
- Content
- Add Media
- Add Contact Form
- Discussion Options
- Sharing Options
- Featured Image
- Privacy Settings
Wrapping Up!
That’s it! We hope this guide has helped you have a good understanding of the differences between pages and posts in WordPress as well as how to use them.
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