We don’t get asked this question that often. However, we regularly see users of our themes opting to put some of their content up as a post, even when a page would be a much better choice. So, here is some guidance on when to use posts and when to use pages.
To create a post or a page
You can easily create a new post or a page from the WordPress dashboard. Everyone is familiar with the process of creating a new post, through the Posts > Add New option. In fact, the option to create a page is one spot below the post option in the dashboard. Just go to Pages > Add New, as shown below.
So, when should I use a page?
Pages are for timeless content. In web lingo, static content. This is the kind of content that gives broad overviews and context for other content on your site.
The About page is the classic example.
The About page gives a broad overview of your site. Content in this page does not need a date or author information. This content is not likely to change frequently, and people are not likely to have comments on it, or want to share it widely.
In fact, these are the major characteristics of any content that would work best as a page.
Another frequent use of a page is to serve as a platform to pull various sub-pages, or categories of content. Here on Catch Themes, the Themes page is a relevant example. The page brings together sub-pages of our themes, with a short overview of our themes in general.
Pages are also hierarchical. Here on catchthemes.com, under our “Themes” page, you can find sub-pages, each of which describes a particular theme. This page>sub-page hierarchy makes it easy for you to organize your content, and easy for search engines to find it.
A page url follows this format: http://example.com/pagename
If you were to use a post instead of a page to create these static areas of your site, (as many have done) you would have to find a way to remove all the unnecessary information such as dates, authors, or comment options from your posts, which is not ideal. The hierarchical relationship between your content would also be lost, making navigation confusing.
When should I use posts then?
Now that we have an idea of when to use pages, let’s talk about posts. If pages are for static content, then posts must be for — you guessed it! — dynamic content.
If the classic example of a page is the About page, then the classic example of a post is a blog post. This content is time-sensitive, and will be superseded by new content pretty quickly. This is also the kind of content where you want people reading, sharing, commenting, and debating.
Posts go into a blog feed, with the most recent post at top by default. If you have specified some other criteria for showing posts, they will appear accordingly. However, pages can’t be pulled there. Your site’s subscribers will get alerted to new posts on your site only.
In conclusion, posts should be your choice for any content that has a short shelf-life, and where sharing and interaction are key.
Our site, catchthemes.com is mostly a static site, so we have a lot of pages. The only place where we use posts is on our Blog.
A post URL generally includes the published date, and follows this format: http://example.com/2015/01/07/post-title/