A WordPress page is used for publishing evergreen content—content that is not timely or that require dated updates.
Pages are part of the site structure hence they appear in the navigation menus.
When publishing a new page, you have to define whether it is a top level (Parent) page or a Child page. If it is a child page, you will have to select its Parent.
When to use pages
If we think of the website as a house, Pages are rooms and Posts are furniture. Adding Pages should be given similar relative consideration. A new Page means the additional content warrants a change to the site’s the information architecture (site structure).
If the content you are adding does not seem to fit as a Child page of an existing Parent page, this is a clue that the content should be added as a Post. Do not create “orphan pages,” pages with no parent.
Child pages
The parent-child page relationship is made clear to site visitors by a sidebar navigation along the side of the page, with the parent page labeled in red along the top and any children listed below it.
Child pages can have their own children as well, in which case those links will be nested underneath their corresponding parent pages. These “grandchildren” will only be visible when the site visitor is on their parent page.
When to add a new page
Often, a new page is needed when a new content type is being added. For example, an office has started hosting events. They might add an Upcoming Events page.
These are some helpful questions to ask whether new content warrants its own page…
- Is the content distinct from any existing pages?
- Is the content a broad enough topic that it could have subtopics underneath it (Child pages)?
- Would it be useful for the page title to appear in the navigation?
Pro Tip
If you find that your site nav is becoming too cumbersome, it’s likely because a lot of that content should be Posts, rather than pages.
How to edit a page
Unless otherwise noted, you may edit the content on a page by following these steps:
- Navigate to the All Pages section of the dashboard.
- Select the name of the page you wish to edit from the list of Pages (use search if necessary)
- Select Edit below the page name
- Once in the Page Editor, click in the area you wish to change to activate the necessary blocks.
- Once you have made your edits, click Update on the top right of the screen.