What Are the Differences Between Posts and Pages in WordPress?
by Andrew Urevig on
Experienced WordPress users throw around all sort of terms that may confuse you as you start your blogging journey. Luckily, these phrases don’t have to be confusing – they just need to be explained to you in straightforward terms.
Two of the most basic words you’ll hear are post and page. These two things stand at the center of WordPress – everything else in WordPress is built around them.
In this tutorial, I’ll explain the differences between posts and pages and give you a simple chart to help you remember the key differences.
How Posts and Pages Are Used
You’re reading a post right now.
Posts are the standard type of blog content; they’re the articles that make up the majority of any blog. You could compare posts to stories in a newspaper or entries in a diary; they’re typically relevant to a certain date.
Meanwhile, pages are typically made up of static content (as opposed to dynamic content like comments). They are more ‘permanent’ and will typically be updated to remain relevant in the future (which cannot always be said of blog posts). For example, our About page is a (you guessed it) page.
While posts comprise the ‘bulk’ of your blog and serve as articles for your visitors to read, pages contain enduring information that visitors can typically (but not always) easily access.
How Posts and Pages Are Accessed
New posts usually appear on a blog’s home page in reverse-chronological order (i.e. with the most recent post at the top of the list).
Here’s an example of a simple blog homepage reverse-chronological post list courtesy of The Minimalists.
Pages do not sit within the list of posts – instead, they’re usually linked to from within navigation elements, such as the navigation bar or the sidebar. That typically makes them far more accessible than your average post.
By default, both posts and pages are accessible via WordPress’ search function (available as a widget).
Should Comments Be On Posts or Pages (Or Both)?
Blog comments are a means for readers to interact with a blog’s author, and blog posts are designed to be commented on. You will for example find a comments section at the bottom of this post, where you can ask questions and share your thoughts.
Aint she purdy?
While comments can be enabled on pages, it is not typically done. While you might want someone sharing their opinion on a pressing issue you’ve just written about on a blog post, it doesn’t really make sense for people to be commenting on your Contact page, for example.
How Posts and Pages Are Organized
Posts are organized by two means: categories and tags. Categories are broad subject areas that posts fall into, while tags describe the more specific content of a post.
Some blogs have an Archives page where readers can browse posts sorted by category or tag. Here’s an example from my own blog, Leaving Work Behind:
Note also the Date archives.
Pages don’t use categories or tags. Instead, they are hierarchical in nature. Put simply, this means that one page can be the ‘parent’ of another. You’ll often see this represented in drop down menus:
In this case, the Menus page is the parent of the Drop Down, Vertical, Flyout, etc., pages.
Page Templates
While all posts tend to look the same, pages can be made to look entirely different with the use of Page Templates. For example, you might choose to have a single column design for a particularly important page; you’d use a different page template to achieve this.
You will sometimes find pre-built page templates within themes, but for the most part, they are a relatively advanced feature in WordPress and you shouldn’t concern yourself too much with them.
Posts and RSS
Clicking the RSS icon on a blog will usually enable you to subscribe via RSS.
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary (or more informally, Really Simple Syndication). RSS feeds can be subscribed to through web apps such as Feedly, which makes it easier to keep up-to-date with the latest posts published on any blogs you choose to subscribe to.
Think of ‘feed readers’ like Feedly as an online magazine, full of articles published by your favourite blogs.
Only posts appear on your blog’s RSS feed – never pages.
Posts vs. Pages Table
If you need a quick reference guide, this table summarizes the key differences between posts and pages:
| WordPress Posts | WordPress Pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Use | Standard (and often date-relevant) blog articles. | Content intended to stand the test of time. |
| Access | Home page, archives page, special archive pages (categories, tags, etc.), search. | Navigation elements (e.g. navigation bar, sidebar), search. |
| Comments | Yes | It's possible, but not common. |
| Tags/Categories | Yes | No |
| Hierarchical | No | Yes |
| RSS | Yes | No |
| Custom Templates | No | Yes |
If you have any questions, please fire away in the comments section below!
Photo Credit: Nicolas Raymond