About octo
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Website Development & Programming
Updated

WA keeps pushing me to do BOTH. Like, just 3-4 pages and EVERYTHING else posts!!!! Even Kyle wrote this briefly in Chat yesterday. I thought I had it figured, but

I wondered the same thing as you, octo. From what I understand, blogs are spread around via RSS feeds, so it gets circulated quickly, something pages are not. So I'm guessing because posts are circulated, it provides an extra opportunity to drive traffic to your site; should someone click your blog link, they will land on your site, thereby providing you an opportunity to market your niche to them.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but what I just said is one insight I've gotten from what I've read so far. So I wouldn't do away with blogs, I wouldn't make my home page a blog page, I'd just provide a separate link or menu item that says "Blog" should the user want to look at my blog posts.

Thank you for this, Grendall. Blogs (ie, posts) '...via RSS... circulated... quickly... extra opportunity to drive traffic...'. This has to be important!

And '...wouldn't do away with blogs [posts]...'. I did not intend to do away with them. What had me so confused was such frequent advice from so many WA videos and other sources to have only 3-4 pages and EVERYTHING else posts. Having a home (PAGE) and a link from that to blog posts seems good - but, LATER, when I'm ready to introduce a regular 'news' or similar feed for comments and opinions.

But, now, because of your 'traffic' point above, perhaps I will introduce POSTS a little sooner than I would otherwise have done. Regards, Octo.

Yes, I think it makes sense now why other people create so many blogs (as the more blogs, the more chances one of them will be read and the link to their web site clicked). And when the reader gets to your web site, they can then read your handful of pages. When you think about it, how many pages do you need to get your reader to click your "action" button/link?

I"m learning myself, and this was one strategy I can appreciate.

Hi, Grendall. For sure, potentially more speed and more traffic is a clincher. Also decisive (for the way I want to organize my website) was the ability to organize posts via categories and tags (and NOT just time sequence, if I understand correctly). Regards, Octo.

In addition to the info of Victoria I also want to give you this info about the Functional difference between a post and a page....

http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/what-is-the-difference-between-posts-vs-pages-in-wordpress/

Hope it helps...

Grtz,
Bert

Thank you for the link, Bert.

1. I noticed immediately the ref '...option to organize your posts based on categories and tags...'. If I understand correctly, this is what I want to do to organize my PAGES: but, if I can also organize my POSTS based on categories and tags, NOT just time sequence, good, this is new information for me. And, maybe one of my current mental blocks is actually solved!

2. I've read dozens of articles on pages-posts differences now. The link you gave repeats a common point about need for USER FOCUS - that makes sense. But, it also asserts no significant SEO advantage of POSTS over PAGES - I'll just accept that for now. But, then the huge WA emphasis on POSTS - that I still don't 'get'.

3. Overall, I'll still focus on PAGES first, and leave POSTS until I'm ready for 'news' or similar more suitable for POSTS. But, Grendall's response about RSS for posts facilitating more speed and traffic must be worth acting on. So, perhaps I will introduce posts sooner than I would otherwise have done.

Thank you again, both, for very useful responses. Regards, Octo.

Hello Octo, I can read that you catch the differences clearly. Very good... Indeed first your basic information of your site has to be ready... That you do by using pages... And the 'news' like you say is more something to use a post... concerning RSS feeds, inform yourself wellicht. .. ;-) Grtz, Bert

Hi, you can organize your website however you wish. Perhaps Nathaniell's tutorial on this subject will help.

Hi, Victoria. Thank you for Nathaniel's link. I think I know more about pages-posts differences now than before, but the implementation shown in the link is definitely useful to study. I like the example website - I think looking at this and a few more good websites is something else I should be doing more of in this learning process. Regards, Octo.

Great Octo, I'm glad you're moving forward and look forward to seeing you around again soon.
Victoria

See more comments

Why pages and posts, why not just pages?

Why pages and posts, why not just pages?

asked in
Website Development & Programming
Updated

WA keeps pushing me to do BOTH. Like, just 3-4 pages and EVERYTHING else posts!!!! Even Kyle wrote this briefly in Chat yesterday. I thought I had it figured, but

I wondered the same thing as you, octo. From what I understand, blogs are spread around via RSS feeds, so it gets circulated quickly, something pages are not. So I'm guessing because posts are circulated, it provides an extra opportunity to drive traffic to your site; should someone click your blog link, they will land on your site, thereby providing you an opportunity to market your niche to them.

I'm sure there are more reasons, but what I just said is one insight I've gotten from what I've read so far. So I wouldn't do away with blogs, I wouldn't make my home page a blog page, I'd just provide a separate link or menu item that says "Blog" should the user want to look at my blog posts.

Thank you for this, Grendall. Blogs (ie, posts) '...via RSS... circulated... quickly... extra opportunity to drive traffic...'. This has to be important!

And '...wouldn't do away with blogs [posts]...'. I did not intend to do away with them. What had me so confused was such frequent advice from so many WA videos and other sources to have only 3-4 pages and EVERYTHING else posts. Having a home (PAGE) and a link from that to blog posts seems good - but, LATER, when I'm ready to introduce a regular 'news' or similar feed for comments and opinions.

But, now, because of your 'traffic' point above, perhaps I will introduce POSTS a little sooner than I would otherwise have done. Regards, Octo.

Yes, I think it makes sense now why other people create so many blogs (as the more blogs, the more chances one of them will be read and the link to their web site clicked). And when the reader gets to your web site, they can then read your handful of pages. When you think about it, how many pages do you need to get your reader to click your "action" button/link?

I"m learning myself, and this was one strategy I can appreciate.

Hi, Grendall. For sure, potentially more speed and more traffic is a clincher. Also decisive (for the way I want to organize my website) was the ability to organize posts via categories and tags (and NOT just time sequence, if I understand correctly). Regards, Octo.

In addition to the info of Victoria I also want to give you this info about the Functional difference between a post and a page....

http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/what-is-the-difference-between-posts-vs-pages-in-wordpress/

Hope it helps...

Grtz,
Bert

Thank you for the link, Bert.

1. I noticed immediately the ref '...option to organize your posts based on categories and tags...'. If I understand correctly, this is what I want to do to organize my PAGES: but, if I can also organize my POSTS based on categories and tags, NOT just time sequence, good, this is new information for me. And, maybe one of my current mental blocks is actually solved!

2. I've read dozens of articles on pages-posts differences now. The link you gave repeats a common point about need for USER FOCUS - that makes sense. But, it also asserts no significant SEO advantage of POSTS over PAGES - I'll just accept that for now. But, then the huge WA emphasis on POSTS - that I still don't 'get'.

3. Overall, I'll still focus on PAGES first, and leave POSTS until I'm ready for 'news' or similar more suitable for POSTS. But, Grendall's response about RSS for posts facilitating more speed and traffic must be worth acting on. So, perhaps I will introduce posts sooner than I would otherwise have done.

Thank you again, both, for very useful responses. Regards, Octo.

Hello Octo, I can read that you catch the differences clearly. Very good... Indeed first your basic information of your site has to be ready... That you do by using pages... And the 'news' like you say is more something to use a post... concerning RSS feeds, inform yourself wellicht. .. ;-) Grtz, Bert

Hi, you can organize your website however you wish. Perhaps Nathaniell's tutorial on this subject will help.

Hi, Victoria. Thank you for Nathaniel's link. I think I know more about pages-posts differences now than before, but the implementation shown in the link is definitely useful to study. I like the example website - I think looking at this and a few more good websites is something else I should be doing more of in this learning process. Regards, Octo.

Great Octo, I'm glad you're moving forward and look forward to seeing you around again soon.
Victoria

See more comments

asked in
Website Development & Programming
Updated

You wouldn't climb a major mountain without a plan, sail NZ to Sydney without a plotted route, why would you try a website without a structure?!

A

Hi, JasonGB. I'll give WP knowledge base and Google another try. Regards, Octo.

There's no one guide on this because every website will be totally different
It also depends on your theme some have set menus and menu placements others have the ability to add custom menus.

You need to decide your structure

Start with pages. These should be the bones or skeleton of your site. Fixed and infrequently changed so visitors understand where to look

Your posts are the meat and you'll add to various pages

Categories and tags will guide people to the posts

Make a plan of how you want your site to look and then decide the structure then you'll easily be able to create custom menus that allow visitors to navigate your site

Hope this helps a little .

Training in site structure needs more wa priority?

Training in site structure needs more wa priority?

asked in
Website Development & Programming
Updated

You wouldn't climb a major mountain without a plan, sail NZ to Sydney without a plotted route, why would you try a website without a structure?!

A

Hi, JasonGB. I'll give WP knowledge base and Google another try. Regards, Octo.

There's no one guide on this because every website will be totally different
It also depends on your theme some have set menus and menu placements others have the ability to add custom menus.

You need to decide your structure

Start with pages. These should be the bones or skeleton of your site. Fixed and infrequently changed so visitors understand where to look

Your posts are the meat and you'll add to various pages

Categories and tags will guide people to the posts

Make a plan of how you want your site to look and then decide the structure then you'll easily be able to create custom menus that allow visitors to navigate your site

Hope this helps a little .

asked in
Authoring & Writing Content
Updated

That is, what's the point of pages AND posts - on the SAME website?

  • Pages more 'permanent' via main menu, posts more 'temporary' via blog rol

Hi, I'm aware this is an older thread but I had a comment to add in case anyone finds it later and needs an answer.

If you have 100s of pages in your navigation, that is just too many no matter how they are organized. The average person will not want to wade through a menu of all of that to find what they need.

Posts can be added as often as you like and still be tagged and categorized for easy retrieval. WordPress is excellent at letting you put each post in a category. It also lets you put multiple tags on one post. You can then use various widgets to display some of these categories however you want to emphasize things.

If you are a highly organized person, and this is bothering you, I would do some research as to ways to use the tags and categories to suit your sense of organization.

The pages should be used for things people expect as pages. Things like: About me, Contact, Services, and maybe a Welcome page with a summary of what they will find on the site. Kyle also suggests maybe two or three sub topic pages which would also be general information to give people and idea of the types of information you will be writing your posts on.

Then the posts themselves will be the bulk of all your helpful, detailed information. Be sure to put them in categories and tag them with relevant tags. Once they are tagged and categorized, even if you have thousands of articles, you can still always call up all the posts with the same tag or category. For instance a site about woodworking, you can find all the posts with the category of stains.





I was wonderin' myself.

In case you don't get notified of my response to octo, here was my response:

To turn off commenting on a page, pull up the page you want to disable commenting on in EDIT mode. Then click Screen Options on the upper right and make sure the Discussion checkbox is checked. This will make a Discussion section visible at very bottom of the page you're editing. Make sure you UNCHECK the Allow comments checkbox.

Then you can uncheck the Discussion section in Screen Options once again so it no longer shows at the bottom. Hope that helps.

Hi again, Grendall. I do get notified, but this place is a labyrinth despite all its many other good features. (Another reason I am so keen on simple and clear in web navigation!) Thank you for the directions - understood. Regards, Octo.

Hi Octo, while post and pages seems to be similar, having both in your site is necessary if you want to monetize you site. Like you said, pages are more permanent. So it should be something that will never get outdated like the "about" page, and other information that fully correlated to your site.

While a post is what you will want to add to your site on regular basis to keep your site green. The old post may be pushed down by the new ones, but it will still have a chance to get rank on search engine. Especially if you choose a good keyword.

Hi, ZeeA. Thank you for this.

A way to 'keep your site green'. Agreed. If the content is appropriate for posts.

I think 'news' would be a good example of content appropriate for posts, and by nature it would also likely be updated frequently.

However, I would love to know exactly how attractive 'green' is to search engines. I wonder if anyone knows of any chart comparing what search engines rate as important, in order of importance?

Regards, Octo.

Hi Octo. I think both pages and posts attract search engine in equal way. Search engine work to find the most useful information for uset. Whether you set you content as page or post, as long as it contains useful information to the reader, it will the same chance to rank.

What matters whren it comes to search engine is the content itself. So don't forget about inserting keyword naturally, add Media, add hyperlink, and aiming at least 700 words.

While both posts and pages are meant to be informational, posts are meant to be interactive, while pages are not.

While WordPress allows you to allow people to comment on pages, but you really should disable it and allow it only in posts.

Hi, Grendall. Pages-posts. Informational-interactive. No comments - comments. I hadn't thought about that aspect.

Some of my content would not be clearly definitive information. Some would be opinion maybe, certainly less formal. So, perhaps this is another case besides 'news' where I should consider whether such content would be better located on a post than a page. And clearly open for comment by others.

It is still a very short list (just 2 types so far) for content I would consider for posts, but it gets me nearer to writing posts than only pages. Regards, Octo.

People respond to posts not just to comment on what you say; sometimes they reply to add to what you said, or maybe even to contradict you. So what I'd ask myself is this -- do I want to give people the chance to add or dispute what I write about? If yes, I'd make a post out of it. If not (e.g. it's your sales talk in action), I'd put it in a page.

Hi, Grendall. I like your question to decide about a post or not. So far, I'd seriously consider locating content to a post rather than a page for:

- News or similar.
- Non-definitive info, like opinion.
- Opportunity for visitors to add to or dispute.

Regards, Octo.

I was not aware that we should disable comments in pages, but I see what you mean if using the page entries as an evergreen type entry...

For the most part, the ONLY pages I have shut down comments for (or better said I open all pages to comments EXCEPT) are the glossary, terms and conditions, and the landing pages I host on the site...(trying to think if there are others but do not think so)...

Even on my "About Me" page I keep it open in case anyone has questions, so the option is there...

I guess this is a tomAtoes/toMAWtoes situation...Different interpretations of how best to set up your page...

Cheers!
Dave : )

I guess allowing comments on pages can have some uses, like if you wanted feedback from people on how the web page looks like (although I'd wonder why one would try to get feedback in that fashion).

Hi, Grendall. Been looking, but haven't seen anything that lets me disable comments on pages. Where exactly do you do this in WP?

To turn off commenting on a page, pull up the page you want to disable commenting on in EDIT mode. Then click Screen Options on the upper right and make sure the Discussion checkbox is checked. This will make a Discussion section visible at very bottom of the page you're editing. Make sure you UNCHECK the Allow comments checkbox.

Then you can uncheck the Discussion section in Screen Options once again so it no longer shows at the bottom. Hope that helps.

If you want to achieve success and make money, eventually you should aim to have 100's of articles on your website. Do you plan on having 100's of articles drop down under your menus, or would that be EXTREMELY confusing for your readers? That is where blog posts come in.

Hi, mykc724. Essentially imposing TWO structures where ONE is sufficient - I don't think that is better. Except where you might want 'news' or similar as an extra on a site. Sorry, maybe I'm still missing something here. Regards, Octo.

See more comments

What's the point of pages and posts?

What's the point of pages and posts?

asked in
Authoring & Writing Content
Updated

That is, what's the point of pages AND posts - on the SAME website?

  • Pages more 'permanent' via main menu, posts more 'temporary' via blog rol

Hi, I'm aware this is an older thread but I had a comment to add in case anyone finds it later and needs an answer.

If you have 100s of pages in your navigation, that is just too many no matter how they are organized. The average person will not want to wade through a menu of all of that to find what they need.

Posts can be added as often as you like and still be tagged and categorized for easy retrieval. WordPress is excellent at letting you put each post in a category. It also lets you put multiple tags on one post. You can then use various widgets to display some of these categories however you want to emphasize things.

If you are a highly organized person, and this is bothering you, I would do some research as to ways to use the tags and categories to suit your sense of organization.

The pages should be used for things people expect as pages. Things like: About me, Contact, Services, and maybe a Welcome page with a summary of what they will find on the site. Kyle also suggests maybe two or three sub topic pages which would also be general information to give people and idea of the types of information you will be writing your posts on.

Then the posts themselves will be the bulk of all your helpful, detailed information. Be sure to put them in categories and tag them with relevant tags. Once they are tagged and categorized, even if you have thousands of articles, you can still always call up all the posts with the same tag or category. For instance a site about woodworking, you can find all the posts with the category of stains.





I was wonderin' myself.

In case you don't get notified of my response to octo, here was my response:

To turn off commenting on a page, pull up the page you want to disable commenting on in EDIT mode. Then click Screen Options on the upper right and make sure the Discussion checkbox is checked. This will make a Discussion section visible at very bottom of the page you're editing. Make sure you UNCHECK the Allow comments checkbox.

Then you can uncheck the Discussion section in Screen Options once again so it no longer shows at the bottom. Hope that helps.

Hi again, Grendall. I do get notified, but this place is a labyrinth despite all its many other good features. (Another reason I am so keen on simple and clear in web navigation!) Thank you for the directions - understood. Regards, Octo.

Hi Octo, while post and pages seems to be similar, having both in your site is necessary if you want to monetize you site. Like you said, pages are more permanent. So it should be something that will never get outdated like the "about" page, and other information that fully correlated to your site.

While a post is what you will want to add to your site on regular basis to keep your site green. The old post may be pushed down by the new ones, but it will still have a chance to get rank on search engine. Especially if you choose a good keyword.

Hi, ZeeA. Thank you for this.

A way to 'keep your site green'. Agreed. If the content is appropriate for posts.

I think 'news' would be a good example of content appropriate for posts, and by nature it would also likely be updated frequently.

However, I would love to know exactly how attractive 'green' is to search engines. I wonder if anyone knows of any chart comparing what search engines rate as important, in order of importance?

Regards, Octo.

Hi Octo. I think both pages and posts attract search engine in equal way. Search engine work to find the most useful information for uset. Whether you set you content as page or post, as long as it contains useful information to the reader, it will the same chance to rank.

What matters whren it comes to search engine is the content itself. So don't forget about inserting keyword naturally, add Media, add hyperlink, and aiming at least 700 words.

While both posts and pages are meant to be informational, posts are meant to be interactive, while pages are not.

While WordPress allows you to allow people to comment on pages, but you really should disable it and allow it only in posts.

Hi, Grendall. Pages-posts. Informational-interactive. No comments - comments. I hadn't thought about that aspect.

Some of my content would not be clearly definitive information. Some would be opinion maybe, certainly less formal. So, perhaps this is another case besides 'news' where I should consider whether such content would be better located on a post than a page. And clearly open for comment by others.

It is still a very short list (just 2 types so far) for content I would consider for posts, but it gets me nearer to writing posts than only pages. Regards, Octo.

People respond to posts not just to comment on what you say; sometimes they reply to add to what you said, or maybe even to contradict you. So what I'd ask myself is this -- do I want to give people the chance to add or dispute what I write about? If yes, I'd make a post out of it. If not (e.g. it's your sales talk in action), I'd put it in a page.

Hi, Grendall. I like your question to decide about a post or not. So far, I'd seriously consider locating content to a post rather than a page for:

- News or similar.
- Non-definitive info, like opinion.
- Opportunity for visitors to add to or dispute.

Regards, Octo.

I was not aware that we should disable comments in pages, but I see what you mean if using the page entries as an evergreen type entry...

For the most part, the ONLY pages I have shut down comments for (or better said I open all pages to comments EXCEPT) are the glossary, terms and conditions, and the landing pages I host on the site...(trying to think if there are others but do not think so)...

Even on my "About Me" page I keep it open in case anyone has questions, so the option is there...

I guess this is a tomAtoes/toMAWtoes situation...Different interpretations of how best to set up your page...

Cheers!
Dave : )

I guess allowing comments on pages can have some uses, like if you wanted feedback from people on how the web page looks like (although I'd wonder why one would try to get feedback in that fashion).

Hi, Grendall. Been looking, but haven't seen anything that lets me disable comments on pages. Where exactly do you do this in WP?

To turn off commenting on a page, pull up the page you want to disable commenting on in EDIT mode. Then click Screen Options on the upper right and make sure the Discussion checkbox is checked. This will make a Discussion section visible at very bottom of the page you're editing. Make sure you UNCHECK the Allow comments checkbox.

Then you can uncheck the Discussion section in Screen Options once again so it no longer shows at the bottom. Hope that helps.

If you want to achieve success and make money, eventually you should aim to have 100's of articles on your website. Do you plan on having 100's of articles drop down under your menus, or would that be EXTREMELY confusing for your readers? That is where blog posts come in.

Hi, mykc724. Essentially imposing TWO structures where ONE is sufficient - I don't think that is better. Except where you might want 'news' or similar as an extra on a site. Sorry, maybe I'm still missing something here. Regards, Octo.

See more comments

asked in
Everything Wordpress
Updated

I installed 'WP Edit' plugin. Klunky, but still the best I've found so far. However, it keeps reverting to original font every time I write a new paragraph. How d

Hello,

I think it is a better approach to first write your text and afterwards do the formatting. That's how I learned it here...
Just a tip...

Grtz,
Bert

Thanks, Bert. Agreed. It's just frustrating WP is not as smooth as MS Word. But, formatting at the end is certainly a lot less tedious than what I'm doing now. All the best, Octo.

You're Welcome!

See more comments

How do I maintain font in wp?

How do I maintain font in wp?

asked in
Everything Wordpress
Updated

I installed 'WP Edit' plugin. Klunky, but still the best I've found so far. However, it keeps reverting to original font every time I write a new paragraph. How d

Hello,

I think it is a better approach to first write your text and afterwards do the formatting. That's how I learned it here...
Just a tip...

Grtz,
Bert

Thanks, Bert. Agreed. It's just frustrating WP is not as smooth as MS Word. But, formatting at the end is certainly a lot less tedious than what I'm doing now. All the best, Octo.

You're Welcome!

See more comments

asked in
Authoring & Writing Content
Updated

In Level 2 L6, Kyle notes you can edit a page title, then asserts you need to edit accordingly the url beneath it; fine. Then, he warns it is NOT advisable to edit

You can edit the URL but you need to ensure you also edit any links you have . If you edit the page or post URL but forget a link i.e.if someone shares your post and then you change the URL then if someone trys to get to your post via the shares link it won't work and they will get an error message.
Let's say 10 people share your post and each of them.share it 10 times that's a minimum of 110 links that won't work if you subsequently change your url

Thanks for this, Jason. Seems like a lot of potential trouble, but then so is trying to rearrange my habit of publishing and then changing my mind about details. I never did believe most of those people who said building an online business was easy! All the best, Octo.

Lol..quite right

See more comments

Get round problems editing url after publishing?

Get round problems editing url after publishing?

asked in
Authoring & Writing Content
Updated

In Level 2 L6, Kyle notes you can edit a page title, then asserts you need to edit accordingly the url beneath it; fine. Then, he warns it is NOT advisable to edit

You can edit the URL but you need to ensure you also edit any links you have . If you edit the page or post URL but forget a link i.e.if someone shares your post and then you change the URL then if someone trys to get to your post via the shares link it won't work and they will get an error message.
Let's say 10 people share your post and each of them.share it 10 times that's a minimum of 110 links that won't work if you subsequently change your url

Thanks for this, Jason. Seems like a lot of potential trouble, but then so is trying to rearrange my habit of publishing and then changing my mind about details. I never did believe most of those people who said building an online business was easy! All the best, Octo.

Lol..quite right

See more comments

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