Posts and pages look the same in the editor. The difference is in how they behave.
The rule
Post — has a date, is listed chronologically, belongs to a category. A blog article, a news item.
Page — has no date, stands on its own, isn’t listed. Home, About us, Services, Contact.
If you are wondering which one to use — ask yourself whether it makes sense for it to show a date. If not — it is a page.
Typical pages
- Home
- About us
- Services (often with subpages)
- Gallery or Projects
- Contact
- Privacy policy — mandatory if you have a form
- Terms of use — for a store
Subpages
Pages can have a hierarchy. On the right, under Page Attributes → Parent.
Then the address becomes:
/services/facades/ instead of /facades/
That is tidier and tells visitors where they are. Don’t overdo the depth — two levels are enough.
Order
The Order field is a number. A lower number means higher up in lists that sort pages.
But the menu is separate — there the order is set by dragging with the mouse; more on that in the article about Appearance.
Template
Some themes offer different layouts: with a sidebar, without one, full width, landing page.
If the field exists, it is worth trying — sometimes it solves a problem you thought needed a developer.
Which page is the home page
This is set somewhere else: Settings → Reading.
Two options:
Your latest posts — the website opens with the blog. For a magazine or a personal blog.
A static page — you choose which page is the home page and which one holds the blog. This is the right choice for a business website.
If your website opens with blog posts instead of your presentation, this is where you change it.
Deleting
A deleted page goes to the trash and stays there for 30 days. It can be restored.
Careful: if it was in the menu, the link stays and leads nowhere. Check the menu after every deletion.
The detail everyone misses
The “Privacy Policy” page has a special status in WordPress — it is set in Settings → Privacy.
Then some plugins link to it automatically. It is worth setting, even if the page already exists.
Don’t want to maintain WordPress yourself — updates, backups and security? We take care of it.
WordPress maintenance →