Are you struggling with setting and editing your WordPress homepage? You’re not alone. Many WordPress users find themselves confused when it comes to customizing their homepage to fit their specific needs. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of changing your WordPress homepage and provide tips for editing it to make it perfect for your website.
Why Set & Edit Your WordPress Homepage?
Before we dive into the how-to, let’s first understand why you might need to set and edit your WordPress homepage. By default, WordPress displays your most recent blog posts on the homepage. While this is suitable for some websites, others may prefer a static homepage that showcases information about their products, services, and team members. A static homepage can be more effective in achieving goals such as increasing email subscribers, generating leads, and driving sales.
If you’re not planning on having a blog at all or you’re not ready to start one yet, setting a static homepage is a great option. Additionally, even if you decide to keep the blog, you may still want to edit the homepage to add sidebars, widgets, or customize the design to match your brand.
Making Your Blog the Homepage
If you have a blog-focused website and want to showcase your blog posts on the homepage, you don’t need to do anything. By default, WordPress will display your blog posts as the homepage. However, you can always go to Settings > Reading in your WordPress dashboard to confirm that “Your Latest Posts” is selected.
Setting a Static Homepage in WordPress
To set a static homepage in WordPress, start by opening your WordPress dashboard and navigating to Settings > Reading. In the Reading tab, you’ll find several settings for your homepage.
In the “Your Homepage Displays” section, you’ll see the current configuration of your website’s homepage. By default, it is set to “Your Latest Posts.” To change it to a static page, click on the “A Static Page” radio button.
Once you select a static homepage, WordPress will prompt you to choose the page you want to display as your homepage. If you’ve already created the necessary pages, simply scroll down and select the appropriate pages for your homepage and posts page. Make sure you have published these pages before assigning them as your static pages.
After making your selections, click the “Save Changes” button. Now, when you visit the frontend of your website, you’ll see that the static page you chose has become your homepage.
Other Blog Reading Settings
Depending on how you want your blog to appear, you can make additional edits in the Reading settings. You can specify the number of posts displayed per page in the “Blog Pages Show at Most” field. This allows you to control the amount of content shown on your homepage.
You also have the option to set the number of posts displayed in your syndication feeds. This is useful for RSS feeds and can be the same as the number of blog pages or customized to your preferences.
Lastly, you can choose between displaying full text or excerpts for your blog posts. Excerpts give users a glimpse of multiple posts, while full text displays the entire post content. Consider your website’s design and user experience when making this decision.
Additional Homepage Editing Thoughts
Beyond setting and editing the homepage configuration, there are many other customization options available. Most of these options can be found in the Appearance tab of your WordPress dashboard. The Customize tab, specifically, offers a visual builder where you can upload a logo, change fonts, and select colors. Note that the availability of customization options may vary depending on your theme.
Key Features of a Homepage
When creating or customizing your homepage, there are a few key features you should consider including:
1. Logo & Navigation: Make sure your brand’s logo is prominently displayed on your homepage along with a navigation menu for easy website navigation.
2. Headline: Include a concise headline that clearly communicates what your website is about.
3. Main Content: Depending on your website’s purpose, the main content section can include recent blog posts, a newsletter sign-up form, a call-to-action, social proof, or product offers.
4. Footer: The footer section is a great place to add site links, a newsletter form, social media links, or contact information.
These are just a few main areas to consider, and you can add more based on your specific needs. There are numerous themes and plugins available that offer additional options such as ad spots, notice bars, e-commerce integration, Instagram feeds, and popup opt-in forms.
Creating a Custom Homepage
If you want complete control over your homepage design without coding, using a WordPress page builder is the way to go. Gutenberg, the default block editor in WordPress, provides many ready-to-use block templates and free add-on plugins for customization. If you prefer a different page builder, options like Elementor or themes with built-in builders like WPBakery can help you design a unique homepage.
Alternatively, if you’re using a theme with limited customization options and only need to make minor tweaks to your homepage elements, you can try using a WordPress CSS live editor plugin. These plugins allow you to easily modify the styling of elements on your page through a click-and-edit interface.
Final Thoughts
Setting and editing your WordPress homepage doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the right guidance and a clear understanding of your website’s goals, you can create a homepage that not only looks great but also drives conversions. Whether you choose to display your blog posts or create a static homepage, don’t forget to consider key features such as your logo, navigation, headline, main content, and footer. And remember, there are plenty of tools and resources available to help you customize your homepage to perfection.
