When you first get started with a new WordPress site, your homepage by default shows the latest posts published on your blog.
If you want to show a specific post on your homepage instead of the ones you most recently wrote, you'll need to activate the static front page option in the WordPress backend panel.
Why Would I Want a Static Post On My Homepage?
If you run a business and want to highlight a specific article that's related to your organization's history, how much your products cost, or even some good PR your company received, a static front page will help you gain visibility to that specific post.
There are other reasons to add a static post to your homepage. It's a good option if you have a single piece of content that:
- You think is really important for your visitors to see right when they hit your homepage
- Your readers seem to really like
- Converts readers especially well (to sign up for a newsletter, to buy your services/products, etc.)
What Layout and Structure Options Do WordPress Offer?
There are 4:
- Blog: This is the classic front page layout with posts featured on the homepage in reverse chronological order.
- Static Front Page: This is another traditional static HTML homepage model with a fixed front page as well as content placed in Pages, rarely if ever using posts, categories, or tags.
- Static Front Page Plus Blog: This layout features a static homepage as a welcome or introduction as well as a blog to manage posts. Pages may be utilized to show evergreen content, such as Contact, Services, About, etc.
- Dynamic Front Page: This is sometimes called the integrated model. The dynamic site design features a fixed homepage plus a blog. But the front page is dynamic! It may feature a combination of static and blog content (pages and posts).
One Thing to Remember When Setting Up a Static Homepage
You'll also want to create a blog section that lists your most recently published posts. Many users want to see this content as well, so this is a good idea from a user experience perspective.
Already Have Posts On Your Homepage?
If your WordPress theme shows posts on the homepage, you'll be able to use a plugin to simply make a specific post sticky. This means that the post you select will be shown first no matter when it was published. See the image below for a WordPress theme from Themetry that features posts right on the homepage.
The Ultimate Sticky Posts Widget WordPress plugin will help you create a sticky post that will be shown on your homepage regardless of whether it was published last year or a few minutes ago.
How Can I Create My Own Static Homepage?
Step 1: Create "Home" Page
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- The title of the first page should be Home. Really you can name it anything you want, but this will act as your static homepage.
- Add the content you'd like to see on your static homepage on the new Home page you just created.
- Publish this page!
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Step 2: Create "Blog" Page
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- The title of the second page should be Blog (it can also be called News, Articles, or whatever you want to call your collection of posts). This page will be the placeholder to show the posts on your site.
- Only the page title is used, so DO NOT add any content to this page. Leave it blank!
- Publish this page!
Step 3: Change Static Page Option
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- Go to Settings > Reading.
- Set Front page displays: as a static page and select the page you created in Step 1 ("Home") for Front page.. Note: You must have more than 1 page published in order for this option to appear.
- If you plan for your WordPress site to contain a blog section, make sure you set Posts page to the page you created in Step 2. Otherwise, leave this blank.
- Click Save changes.
Step 4: Adjust Permalink Structure
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- Go to Settings > Permalinks.
- Under Common Settings select Post name.
- Click Save changes.
Step 5: Create A Menu
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- Go to Appearance > Menus.
- On the left side of the page, you should see Pages, Links, Categories, and Tags. Depending on the theme you're using, you may also see Slides, Portfolio, Carousel, or others.
- At the top of the page, you will see two tabs: Edit Menus and Manage Locations.
- To the right of those two menu options, click create a new menu.
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- Enter a name that makes sense for your new menu. Something like Main Menu will make the most sense, but choose something you'll remember.
- Click Create Menu.
- Go back to Appearance > Menus, click your new menu from the dropdown next to Select a menu to edit: and click Select.
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- Select the Home page, Blog page, and any other pages you want in your menu and click Add to menu.
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- Drag and drop your menu items to the desired locations to arrange your menu how you want. You can create sub-menu items by dragging menu item slightly to the right under other items in order to form a menu hierarchy.
- Click Save Menu.
Final Notes
- Now the homepage settings and content will only be adjustable by editing the Home page you created in Step 1.
- Now the Blog settings and content will only be adjustable by editing the blog options in your theme settings.
Now it's time to try it out for yourself! Be sure to carefully follow our guide step-by-step after you've created your own website, and here are instructions directly from WordPress as well. Ask us any questions if you get stuck along the way!
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