One common question related to WordPress relates to how one can have a “static” (in the sense that content doesn’t change) home page with just a simple link to the blog pages. That’s how this site is set up, though it’s subject to change. Just selecting a page as your home page under reading sections is fine for a simple blog site, but what if you want to have different sidebars or style changes between the two areas of your site? Here’s how I accomplished it for eGrace Creative.

Arrange your design, html, and your loop the way you want it to work for your pages and save the file as page.php. Then do the same for your blog and save it as index.php. I created a secondary loop (not the real term, but you get the idea) and added it to a duplication of page.php and named it home-page.php. At the top of that page, I inserted this within a php tag…


/*
Template Name: Home
*/


In WordPress, I created my front page and assigned the page template called “home” from the dropdown box. This tells WordPress to use the correct template file for the front page of my site.

Back to the drawing board, I duplicate my index.php, which has my blog loop, and name it blog.php. I do this at the top (within a php tag):


/*
Template Name: Blog
*/


In WordPress, I create another page with the slug “/blog/” and leave the content blank. In the page template dropdown box, I select “Blog” as the template for this page. On the front page of my site, I link to this as http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/. This page calls up my blog posts in date order. I’ve arranged the code so that my categories display at the top, but your options are limitless for creating an easily-navigated page.

Note this – if you don’t see a dropdown box with various page templates available, it’s either because the theme you are using does not include any, or you’ve mistyped something before uploading.

I hope this helps!

Here’s a simple tip from the marketing aspect of web site design – keep your bread and butter front and center. Many sites are crowded with extras and bonuses, but the main business of the site is overshadowed. You must determine what a “sale” is in your market, then arrange your design elements around it.

Ever wonder why Google doesn’t start shoving the advertising in your face on the search page? It’s because their main business is getting you to search, then the ads appear. Decide what a successful visit to your site looks like – what’s your ultimate goal? Is it getting them to buy a product? sign up for a newsletter? contact you for more information?

When you’ve decided what a winning visit looks like, make it as easy as possible. If you want people to sign up for a newsletter, don’t bury it deep within the site and require people to make five clicks – put it in the sidebar. If you’re selling hamster muzzles, make sure there’s some kind of image of one on the front page with a way for people to make the purchase in as few clicks as possible.

Take for example Mobile Concepts 360. The client determined that a winning visit would result in a client contacting them for more information on beginning a new business venture in the event marketing industry. Building a contact list is the bread and butter. So we used a Mootools accordion-style contact form that appears in the sidebar on every page. We also left a single contact page in that is linked to from various parts of the site. No matter where you are, contacting the owners is a cinch.

What’s your bread and butter? Put it front and center. Make it bold. Make it pretty. Add in some extras, but make sure your potential client can easily find what you’re all about and proceed to checkout!