What's the Difference Between a Page and a Post on WordPress?

whats-difference-between-page-and-post-on-wordpress

To learn how to duplicate a page in WordPress, you first need to know the difference between pages and posts. As one of the most popular blogging platforms worldwide, WordPress has many innovative features for website owners. When constructing your site, you can guarantee you'll have plenty of posts and pages.

What Is a WordPress Page?

Imagine you're visiting your favorite website and looking for the company's contact information. You'll find the navigation bar at the top of the site, with a ton of different titles such as “Contact” and “About Us”. When clicked, these titles will bring you to specific pages with the content you need.

This same theory applies to pages on WordPress. They are static pages that don't have a publishing date and offer timeless content that will always be available upon the first click.

Pages are responsible for housing posts and keeping them in an organized collection for readers to browse through. Pages are referred to as "static" or "timeless" because their information will always be visible. The content you wrote ten years ago will be in the same place today, as long as you don't edit the page.

What Is a WordPress Post?

If you've owned a blog in the past, you're likely aware of what posts are, as you can use them to push content to your site. They are typically identifiable by their publishing date, which will be visible per post on your blog's pages.

Instead of being static, your posts are ever-changing because as you add more content, past posts get pushed to different pages. Over time, you might have a collection of various pages of blog posts filled with different types of content.

What Are the Differences Between Pages and Posts on WordPress?

Knowing what pages and posts are, let's get into the more technical details that make them different from each other.

Categorization

When you create posts on WordPress, you have a couple of options for categorizing them. This process can make specific posts more effortless for you and your audience to find.

You'll be able to organize posts by using categories and tags, which adds an underlayer of the organization to your site. For example, if a reader wants to see every post you've made about baking, they can search for "baking" in your tags.

You can also assign specific posts to be displayed on specific pages by category. For example, you can put your baking posts under “Baking” while assigning your favorite kitchen appliances elsewhere.

On the other hand, pages don't allow for tags or categories. Instead, pages are organized using a hierarchy, typically referred to as "parent" and "child" pages. With this process, you can ensure that related pages are grouped.

The easiest way to see a page's hierarchy is to look at its URL. Typically, parent pages will have URLs like www.yourwebsite.com/parent, while child pages look like www.yourwebsite.com/parent/child.

Showing Authors

If you own a business where multiple people contribute content to a website, showing authors is essential. You'll want to ensure that every writer gets credit for the work they've created, which is easy to accomplish with posts.

Every post you upload to your site can have a different author with their name affixed to the specific post. This process is beneficial for awarding credit and for readers to find content from the specific writers they enjoy. Typically, you can click an author's name on your website's front end and see a list of content they've created.

Unlike posts, pages don't allow you to assign a specific writer because the site administrator typically designs them. However, you can see the authors of both pages and posts on the back end. This feature makes it easier to streamline website creation and upkeep with multiple administrators.

Displaying RSS Feeds

RSS feeds are useful for several reasons, primarily since they make it easier for readers to see your latest posts. They will display your most recent content with these feeds, so readers are always up-to-date with your site.

In the RSS feed, you won't find pages but instead posts, which can help increase the number of subscribers. Your readers will always know when you've posted new content, and they have a good format for user-friendly sites.

Every time you upload something new, readers can click the RSS feed link. Since this content is always changing, it's not used for displaying newly added static pages.

Formatting

When creating pages, you'll find you have a little more creative freedom than you would with posts. Posts have certain features similar to word processors, allowing you to insert and modify text. You will also be able to upload quotes, videos, photos, links, and more.

On the other hand, pages are a little more open-ended, allowing you to manage the page's overall look. Website admins can change background colors, adjust the size and placement of modules, and more. If you're interested in modifying your site's general layout, formatting pages can be more creative.

Conclusion

Differentiating between pages and posts on WordPress can make owning and managing a website simpler. With posts, you can push relevant and recent content to your readers, housed on pages. The key differences between the two can help you to run an up-to-date blog effectively.

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