A page is content that stays put: about us, services, contact, privacy policy. A post is content with a date on it, which joins a list and gets older. Choosing wrong between the two is the most common beginner mistake, and it is tedious to undo.
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Page |
Post |
| Has a date |
Not in practice |
Yes, and it is what orders them |
| Has categories |
No |
Yes, and tags |
| Appears in an automatic list |
No |
Yes, on the blog page |
| Goes in the menu |
Nearly always |
Rarely |
| Examples |
Contact, Services, About us |
News, notices, articles |
Creating a page
| 1 |
In the WordPress dashboard, open Pages and then Add New.
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| 2 |
Write the title. It is what shows in the browser tab and, very often, in search results.
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| 3 |
Write the content. The editor works in blocks: every paragraph, image, button or table is a block, added with the plus sign.
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| 4 |
Set the featured image in the sidebar. Many themes use it at the top of the page and when the page is shared.
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| 5 |
Check the permalink, also in the sidebar. It is the last part of the address.
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| 6 |
Use Preview before publishing, and look at it on a phone too.
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| 7 |
Publish, or save as a draft, or schedule it for a date.
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Keep the page address short, lower case and without accents. Write contact, not our-updated-contact-page. Short addresses share better and can be read out over the phone without mistakes.
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Changing the address of a published page breaks the old links. Anyone who saved it, and Google, land on a 404. If you really must change it, put a redirect from the old address to the new one.
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Editing without fear
WordPress keeps revisions of every page. The editor sidebar has an entry listing them, and it lets you compare two versions side by side and put the earlier one back. It is the safety net for anyone who edits, and hardly anybody knows it is there.
While you work on an already published page, the save button puts your change live immediately. If the page matters and the edit is long, duplicate it, work on the copy, and swap at the end.
Putting the page where people find it
| You want |
Where it is done |
| The page in the menu |
Appearance, Menus on classic themes. In the site editor on block themes. |
| It to be the front page |
Settings, Reading, choosing a static page. |
| It hidden from the public |
In the editor sidebar, switching visibility to private or password protected. |
| It to show well on Google |
Start with the title and the address. Then, being found on Google. |
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