Creating a Homepage

What is a Homepage?

The term homepage is used in web development to refer to the main, or front, page of a web site. It is often used in the navigation menus and other user interface elements of the website to direct users to the main page. By default, WordPress sites show a homepage with your latest posts listed in reverse chronological order; however, it is possible to use a static page as a custom home page. This can make the website feel less like a blog and more like a fully featured website.

Note: Other terms often used to refer to a homepage are front page and main page. It will often be displayed as “Home” in menus as well.

Important: Before a homepage can be assigned in a WordPress site, the page must first be created (For help with creating pages in WordPress, see Creating Pages).

Creating a Homepage

Homepages are appointed through the back-end of WordPress via the Dashboard. To get started with setting a homepage, see the image below and then follow the step-by-step instructions further down.

Instructions:

1. From the Dashboard of your WordPress site, hover your cursor over the “Appearance” link in the left-hand menu (see image above). 
2. From the menu that displays, click “Customize”.
3. On the next page, click “Homepage Settings” from the left-hand menu.
4. Next, under ‘Your homepage displays’, choose “A static page”.
5. Then, under the ‘Homepage’ dropdown menu, choose the page you would like to have as your site’s homepage.
6. Finally, click “Publish” at the top of the left-hand menu.

Need help?

Have questions? Feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns at go.ncsu.edu/ucomm-dev-request.