wordpress pages

Understanding the difference between WordPress Posts vs Pages

Understanding WordPress Posts vs Pages.

WordPress offers two option about publishing your content online. You either publish your content through the post or pages. It’s better to understand why there are posts and pages before you decide on which one to use for a particular content.

This tutorial outlines the major differences between the posts and the Pages. You will have an understanding of when to use a post or a page.

The focus is the specific ways to use Posts and Pages and what to do with these in separate tutorials.

The video below also reveals a step by step tutorial about how to use both to publish content on your site.

WordPress Posts vs Pages – Understanding The Main Differences

You can publish content online using either the post or preferably, the page.

Your visitors and readers will probably not be bothered about whatever mean you use in publishing content on your site. Nevertheless, it’s crucial that you understand the main differences between these two fundamental building blocks. Your online presence will be more effective when you choose the most appropriate one for the right purpose.

Let’s take a look, then, at what the main differences are, starting with WordPress Posts …

Note: Many of the specific features of Posts and Pages mentioned below are explained in more detail in separate tutorials.

WordPress Posts.

Regular “blog” entries are typically written using posts.

By default, Posts are entries listed by date and typically displayed in reverse chronological order on your blog’s home page, so that the most recent entry shows above the older entries …

Posts display on your blog home page and individual pages. They are marked as “sticky posts” display before other ones (this is explained in more detail in a separate tutorial).

Posts can be referenced in sections of your web site like Archives, Categories, Recent Posts, and several widgets. They are also display in your our WordPress RSS feed, as shown in the example below …

They often display a comments section below the main content, allowing visitors to comment on your posts …

Posts can also be added to categories …

And they can also be referenced using tags …

See the “Related Tutorials” section further below for tutorials on how to use Posts.

WordPress Posts vs Pages – Similarities

Here are some of the main similarities between Pages and Posts:

Pages and Posts both have Titles and Content, and use the same method to insert these (e.g. Title fields, visual editor, text editor, etc….)
They use your WordPress Theme template files to help maintain a consistent look throughout your site.
They allow you to use keyword-template
Both Pages and Posts are viewed as “content pages” by search engines.
Depending on the theme and the plugins you have installed on your site, Pages and Posts both give you control over search engine settings like Title, Meta Description, and Meta Keywords.
Depending on the theme and the plugins you have installed on your site, both can be set to display in your menus and widget areas.

Although very similar in many respects, Pages, however, have several key distinctions that make them different from Posts.

They typically live outside of the normal blog chronology and are used to “showcase” content that is less time-sensitive than Posts.

In essence, they are mostly used to present readers with information about you or your site that is unlikely to change, and other common pages found in websites such as:

About Us
Contact Us
Product / Service Pages
Scheduled Events
Copyright
Disclosure
Legal Information
Earnings Disclaimer
Reprint Permissions
Company Information
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Resources
etc …

A Page in WordPress is not listed by date, and do not use tags or categories.

You can use them to organize and manage your content.

For example, you can organize the main topics of your content into “Parent” pages (where each of the main topics gets its own page), and then add subtopics for each of your main topics into “Child” pages (subpages) …

You can add as many “child” pages as you need to organize your content into “topic hierarchies”, as shown in the example below …

They can also be displayed in the sidebar of your site using the Pages widget …

In the example above, a “Pages” widget is used to display links to five main pages and three “nested” subpages.

As well as displaying a page in sidebars using widgets, some WordPress themes also display them in the menu tabs in the header and footer sections of your site…

They are also displayed in your t can also use different Page Templates. These Page Templates can include Template Files, Template Tags and other PHP code that provides unique, complex or sophisticated display features of a page on your site.

For example, here are just some of the sales page templates made available to users of a popular WordPress theme called OptimizePress …

At the simplest level, they should be used for non-blog content. In fact, if you were to remove all Posts from your WordPress site, you would have something that closely resembles your typical “non-blog” website (i.e. a site comprising only of “static” pages.)

What WordPress Pages Are Not

- A Page is not a Post. Pages are not processed by the WordPress Loop, which is PHP code used by WordPress to display posts and to cycle post data (like time, category, etc.) through your blog’s main page. Note, however, that some defaults can be changed through the use of certain plugins.

- They cannot be associated with Categories and cannot be assigned Tags. This means that Pages can only be organized according to a hierarchy where you specify and assign Pages and SubPages, and not from referencing Tags or Categories.

- They are not files. Unlike websites that have static pages made of code, which are then saved as files on your server, Pages are stored in your WordPress database just like Posts, where they only exist as digital data inside database tables.

- They are not included in your site’s feed. Note: there are plugins available that will add your pages to your site’s RSS feed.

Pages (or even a specific post) can be set as a static “home” page. In a separate tutorial we’ll explain how to set up a page to display as the home page of your WordPress site. We’ll also show you in a separate tutorial how to create a separate page for displaying your latest blog posts (where a list of your most recent posts display in a page that most people typically call “blog”).

Because Posts are referenced from many different areas of your WordPress site (Archives, Categories, Searches, Tags, RSS Feeds, other page views, etc …), and Pages are typically only accessed from their one published location, many WordPress SEO experts argue that it is generally better to post content that you want to attract more exposure from visitors and gain better results from search engines using Posts, rather than Pages.

What Type Of Content Can Be Added To WordPress Posts or Pages?

With WordPress you can easily add or edit the following types of content into your Posts and Pages: Text You can add plain, formatted and/or hyperlinked text in a variety of fonts and styles to posts and pages…

WordPress offers the option of using both a Visual Editor and an HTML Editor for adding content as text.

Meta text can also be added to WordPress Post and Pages although this will depend on the configuration of your site’s settings and plugins. E.g tittles, keywords and description that appears on search engines), create custom excerpts, etc.

In the section below, there are tutorials on how to add text based content to WordPress Post and Pages. Check out the related section below.

Media

You can add or embed media content into WordPress such as videos, audio files, downloadable files (e.g. PDF documents), images (photos, logos, graphics, banners, etc) and more.

For step-by-step tutorials on how to add media-based content to WordPress posts and pages, see the “Related Tutorials” section below.

Scripts

With WordPress you can add scripts into your posts and pages using code like JavaScript, short codes and plugins. Many of these scripts also allow you to control the content that appears on your site from an external or remote location (e.g. Manage advertising banners or subscription forms).

Content can also be added to WordPress posts vs pages by inserting code directly into your file templates. Please note, however, that in order to add and edit file templates, you will need to have at least a basic understanding of code languages like HTML and PHP.

WordPress is huge and can sometimes be overwhelming about where to start. As you move on to the next Page, you will have a clearer picture of where to start and progress to building a professional WordPress Site.

For step-by-step tutorials on how to add scripts and code to WordPress posts versus pages, see the “Related Tutorials” section below.

Read and Understand WordPress Password Recovery

WordPress Password Recovery

In this WordPress troubleshooting step-by-step tutorial, we’ll take you systematically through the process of recovering a misplaced password or username and getting access to your admin area.

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Are you unable to log back into your WordPress site because you’ve misplaced your password? In this WordPress troubleshooting tutorial for non-technical users, you will learn the process of retrieving a lost, misplaced or forgotten password or username and getting access to your admin area.

WordPress Password Recovery

Have you misplaced your WordPress password?

Finding yourself unable to access your admin area because you can’t remember your password or username can be very frustrating.

Fortunately, with WordPress, there is always a way to get back into the back-end of your website or blog.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to retrieve a forgotten password or username, and get back into your website or blog. We’ll go as far as we can without getting into complicated technical areas, and then, if the information still doesn’t help you, we’ll explain to you what your other options for password recovery are.

WordPress Password Recovery

Let’s start at the beginning.

Incorrect Username/Password

Normally, if you get your username or password wrong when trying to login in WordPress, an error message like the one below will display …

Your first clue, is that if you get the username correct, but the password wrong, WordPress will let you know this…

For security purposes, avoid setting up WordPress sites with the username “admin”.

This is the default installation username for WordPress and one of the leading causes of brute force attacks and security threats on WordPress sites.

If you need to change your username, see this tutorial: How To Change Your WordPress Username From Admin

WordPress Password Recovery

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If you have forgotten or lost your password, but you do know your username or the email address you have registered with, then click on the “Lost your password?” link in the login box …

You can also access the lost password area by clicking on the link at the bottom of the login box …

Alternatively, just type the following URL into your web browser (where “domain” is your domain and “tld” is your domain extension, eg. “com”, “net”, “biz”, etc.) …

Enter your username or email address and click the button to get a new password …

At this stage, there is no password “recovery” option, only password “reset”.

You will receive a system notification via email containing a link to reset your password.

Enter a new password into the “Password reset” field. Make sure to choose a strong password containing upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols, like “$, ^, @, &” etc …

Use a password generator tool to help you generate a strong password.

You can use a free online password generator tool like PasswordsGenerator.net (shown below) …

Or use a password management software like RoboForm, which not only lets you create strong passwords, but also store and manage all your passwords …

Use A Password Generator Tool If You Need Help Creating A Strong Password

After resetting your password, log in as normal …

WordPress Password Recovery

How To Change Your Password Inside Your WordPress Admin Area

To change your password inside WordPress, log into your admin and select Edit My Profile from the “Howdy, User” dropdown menu at the top-right hand corner of your screen …

You can also access your “Profile” screen by selecting Users > Your Profile from your main admin menu.

Towards the bottom part of the screen, you will see the “change password” section. Enter a new password and confirm this password here.

Note: Use the WordPress password strength meter to help you avoid using weak passwords and set up a strong password.

Click the Update Profile button after you have entered your new details to update your password settings.

If You Don’t Know Your Username And Password

So far, the above steps work if you’ve forgotten your password but you know your username or email address.

How can you log in if you can’t remember both your username and password?

You can still log into your WordPress site, but a little technical intervention is required.

As this tutorial is really intended for non-technical WordPress users, we recommend that if the information above hasn’t helped you get back into your WordPress backend, then either contact someone who can provide you with technical assistance (i.e. your webmaster, web support person or your webhost) and ask them to help you reset your WordPress Password from phpMyAdmin, or you can try the method below, which will reveal your username and email address, so you at least you can get your password reset and log back in.

All you need is access to your server. Don’t worry, you won’t be changing anything inside your server … you’ll just be taking a look!

WordPress Password Recovery

If you feel hesitant about working inside your server or WordPress database, then please ask a web services professional to assist you.

In this example, we’ll be working with the cPanel management tool …

cPanel management application

Log into your server control panel …

cPanel admin area

Find the “Databases” section and open phpMyAdmin …

phpMyAdmin

Open up your WordPress database.

Note: If you have a number of databases set up on your domain, make sure that you select the right one …

phpMyAdmin databases

Don’t be concerned about the complicated-looking information on your screen screen.

Click on wp_users in the “Table” column on the left-hand side …

phpMyAdmin databases

You will see a list of all your site’s users with their usernames and registered emails. Typically, the first line is assigned to the site administrator, but if you have more users and need to locate their username or email, then scroll down the list until you find the details you are looking for …

Note: The user password is also included in this section of your database (in the “user_pass” column”), but as you can see from the screenshot above, it is encrypted.

Due to reasons of security, WordPress stores all passwords as a cryptographic hash function (MD5 Hash) instead of plain text. This prevents even the site administrator from knowing a user’s password.

WordPress Password Recovery

To replace this password you will need an encryption tool that lets you generate an MD5 hash, which you would then copy and paste into the password field. You can search for “free MD5 generators online” if you want to change the password yourself, but as suggested earlier, ask for help from a professional if you don’t know what you are doing, and want to avoid causing errors.

Now that you have retrieved your username and email address, log out of your server, return to the login screen and request a new password …

Hopefully, you have found this tutorial useful and can now resume working on your website or blog.