I often explain WordPress posts and pages to clients, so I’m publishing my explanation here. This is what I want clients and site editors to know.
The Basic Definitions and Default Uses of Posts and Pages
What is a post?
Posts are typically used like news articles. They are published with a date and are generally not updated, though they can be. They are usually considered accurate on that date, and new information is published in a new post.
Posts are often on a blog or news page but not necessarily. They’re usually sorted from newest to oldest. A list of posts can appear anywhere on a site in a section like “Latest News”.
By default, posts are NOT hierarchical. One post cannot be a parent nor a child of another.
Posts can be assigned categories and tags (taxonomies). These help you organize content for users. See Blog Categories and Tags are Editorial Decisions, Not Technical for more about how to use taxonomies.
What is a page?
Pages are typically updated periodically. The page URL usually doesn’t change. On a business site, these might be the “brochure” parts of a site including the home page, an “about us” page, a contact page, and a page for each product or service. While pages have published and modified dates, the dates are typically not displayed. Generally, pages are expected to be up to date unless they display otherwise.
By default, pages ARE hierarchical. One page can be the parent or child of another. For example, a “Services” page can be the parent for individual services pages like “Web Design”, “Photography”, and “Graphic Design”.
Pages do not have taxonomies (categories and tags).
Stop Here if You Need Only the Basic Info
If the basic answer is all you need, stop here. Content editors and writers generally don’t need the info below. But if you want to know a bit about other ways you can use posts and pages, read on.
The slightly more complicated answer: Everything is a Post
In WordPress tech speak, there are multiple post types. It can help to think of them as different content types, but the term in WordPress development is post type. Some of the default types include these:
- Post (a post of type “post”)
- Page (a post of type “page”)
- Attachment (a post of type “attachment”, used for an image or media file)
- And others that aren’t important for this explanation.
So if you read much about WordPress, you might see the term post type. And you might see the term custom post type.
Custom Post Type (CPT)
With code or plugins, it’s possible to create custom post types (CPT). For instance, event plugins often create a CPT of event post type. E-commerce plugins often create a CPT of product post type.
Some plugins give administrators an easy way to create their own custom post types. A CPT can be created to work like the default post type or like the default page type.
Example: A Second Blog Section
A company might want a typical blog for news and updates, AND they might want a blog for technical bulletins. They could use the default posts for their news section, and with a plugin like Custom Post Type UI, they could create a CTP of tech bulletin post type. Then they could list tech bulletins in their own section of the website. They could manage tech bulletin posts just like they manage default posts and keep the two kinds of posts separate.
And this is just the beginning. Of course, it gets more complicated, and this post isn’t meant to cover all of that. Just realize you’re not limited to default posts and pages.
Where to Find Posts and Pages
Conclusion
Posts are typically used like news articles and are published with a date and are generally not updated. Pages are typically updated periodically, but the URL usually isn’t changed; typical pages include the home page, an “about us” page, and a contact page.
Custom post types can be used to create your own types of posts that work like posts or pages, but it gets complicated. In any case, you’re not limited to default posts and pages.
