Posts and Pages in WordPress

WordPress has two general types of ways to display content: posts and pages. Do you know the difference between posts and pages in WordPress?

Similarities between Posts and Pages in WordPress

Add New Post screen in WordPress

Whether you click “Add New” under Posts or Pages, you will get a similar screen showing a place for a title, the editor (the buttons displayed in the editor will depend upon the plugins you have installed), and a Publish section to the right. Depending upon the screen options you have selected to display, you may also see Custom Fields, Discussion, Slug, Author and Send Trackback sections below the editor. You may also see other sections on both posts and pages that are made available with plugins you install.

Differences between Posts and Pages in WordPress

Add New Page in WordPress

You will generally use Pages in WordPress to display static information such as contact information, terms of use, disclaimers and privacy policies. Posts, on the other hand, is for fresh content. Originally, WordPress was used primarily by bloggers — for journaling, commentary, creative works, etc. As the Internet has continued to morph and grow, WordPress has become more of a content management system (CMS). Thousands, if not millions, of users are now using as the framework for their online business websites. In these cases, Pages have become articles, news items, reviews, and much more.

On the Add New Post screen, Tags and Categories are additional sections you can use to segment your posts. You can use categories to organize your information into neat buckets and tags to highlight the keywords and phrases used in your post.

When to Use Pages –When to Use Posts

It is possible to exclusively use pages throughout your website to display all of your content. If you elect to do this, you may need to install some additional plugins to assist with SEO and segmentation of your content. In general, you should use pages to display static content–content that you want available from every other page on your site. You should use posts, ideally between 300 and 500 words, that contain your keywords (but not stuffed!) what contain fresh, original content on a consistent schedule, such as once or twice per week.