Are you confused about the point of a blog page? Or perhaps you’ve been trying to separate topics or classes on your blog using pages but are struggling to get it to work how you would like.
Deciding when to use blog posts vs pages can be puzzling so we decided to write a post to explain the difference between a Page and a Post, plus share ideas for separating topics or classes on a blog to help address some of the confusion.
Posts properties
- Blog posts appear in reverse chronological order by default so that the most recent post is the first post that your readers see.
- Posts are dynamic (updated regularly) and have time stamps i.e. display the date posted.
- You can assign tags and categories to organise blog posts.
- Posts appear in RSS feeds – i.e.: your readers who subscribe to your blog will receive your latest post in their feed reader.
Page Properties
- Site pages are displayed independently of their creation date and are more static – i.e.: they remain the same from day to day since they are rarely updated.
- You normally use pages for information that you want to share with your readers but don’t expect to update frequently. School & District Websites and Student ePortfolios are pages.
- Pages don’t have time stamps – i.e.: they don’t show the date they were posted.
- Pages can appear anywhere on your blog depending on your theme.
- You can change the order pages appear. Pages are normally displayed in alphabetical order but their order can be changed using Page Order.
- You can’t assign tags and categories to pages.
- Pages don’t appear in RSS feeds so readers need to visit your site to view the latest updates to pages.
- You can create sub-pages which you assign to a parent page to build a more complex site.
Ways of separating topics or classes on a blog
If you don’t want students from different classes seeing posts or information that don’t relate to their class, the best solution is separate blogs for each class. Benefit is students have an increased sense of ownership. However if you want to use just one blog, the best way of separating topics or classes is using categories.
By using categories, students can access their posts by:
- Clicking on their category link in the blog sidebar
- Subscribing to the RSS feed for their post’s category using a Feed Reader like Google Reader.
FINAL THOUGHT
We hope this has helped you understand the differences between Pages and Posts.
If you are enjoying reading this blog, please consider 
Subscribing For Free!
Dear Sue,
I am not quite sure I understand – a page is a static piece, (so could be the intro to a topic for example) and a post is the reflections on a topic? My problem is that i have a series of posts that I cannot find on my blog at all. when I go to manage / posts it says that they are published – but where???
I would like each of the posts dedicated to each of the texts we study linked to the separate pages (if possible). I have imported my previous posts from my blogspot account. One of the reasons for a blogspot account is that it seems easier to manage in that when you post it appears straight away; the thing though is I like the ideas that I can have pages as well as this reflective writing – if I can get it to appear where it can be read. Please help there are only three weeks until exams and students are concerned that I am neglecting them.
the blog in question is:http://mrsburrows.edublogs.org/
could you tell me how to put posts on my forum
I have now posted an entry as you suggested and I hope that I can get others thoughts on how to proceed. Thank you for your help, and I hope to be able to catch up to the digital world!
@ditulln sorry for slow response. Mostly you use pages for information that you wouldn’t normally change. For example an about page which tells people who read your blog who you are and what you write about.
@brainym Many of the conferences are now being Ustreamed, Liveblogged etc which is really good.
Its entirely up to you whether you use blogs or wikis or both. Generally you use blogs and wikis for different reasons which is why educators often use both. If you want to just use a wiki you can use a blog as a class web page for information on each subject by using pages for the subject information.
My recommendation for anyone starting out is to first start using these tools for your own personal learning. As you get more experienced you soon see how you can use it with your students and you feel more comfortable.
Perhaps you could set up your own personal blog where you write about your thoughts, reflections and ask people for their input? e.g. suggestions on how to get started with these tools with students. If you let me know you have written the posts I’m happy to encourage my network to visit and share their thoughts.
Dear Sue,
I just saw your video archive from the UCET conference. I did not see it when the conference was going on, but I hope you are planning on doing more. I like the idea of professional development happening through skype, etc.
Here is my question. I am really interested in having a class blog form my students to improve their literacy skills. I have looked into both blogging and wikis for use in the class, and am trying to get them up and going. Do I really need both? I want them to serve as my class web page for information on each subject, I want students to be able to blog in response to various prompts in literature, and I want them to be actively involved in the process. I have read a lot on both. Do you have a recommendation or advice for someone who is just starting out with these tools?
Thanks for the help!
I wana post with you oooooh oooooh
What is the point of having a page?
Dear, Sue, I can’t thank you enough!
I finally got it and I find it just a piece of cake!
would you plese help me with this other problem I psted today in the troubleshooting forum?
http://edublogs.org/forums/topic.php?id=6164
Thanks!
@manal.k To me it looks like you are getting there. The correct URL for Assignment 1 is http://4betterwriting.edublogs.org/assignments/assignment-1/ – you are missing the h in front of the address. What you need to do is highlight the words Assignment 1 using your mouse and then click on Insert/Edit Link button and paste the URL to Assignment 1 page in the box.
Refer to page 25 of Janetta’s Blogging with Edublogs manual – the section on adding a hyperlink.
Deae, Sue, thanks for trying to help me. I did exactly what you told me but what happens is it all looks like one URL and wherever I press, it takes me back to the home page. You can have look at my assignments page yourself:
http://4betterwriting.edublogs.org/assignments/
Moreover, the symbols above the page writing space are not undrestandable to me!
what is b, i/, link which I have tried to use to add linka but of no avail.
I know I’m giving you a hard time, i’ve been trying to figure out most of these things on my own, but here I’m stuck!
if things don’t work this way, we’d better try the HTML method!
@Beth I think I understand what you are describing.
“However, when the student writes a new Post, the NEW post goes straight to my home page, on top!” Posts will always appear on your post page at the top; this is by default your homepage.
“Why, on this page, do the messages appear in chronological order, oldest on top?” On the page you set up I believe you are saying that when students write comments the oldest comment, like all comments, will appear at the top. Whereas on your post page when you write a post the newest post appears at the top and the oldest at the bottom. This is the difference between posts and comments.
I think if your aim is to write a question that your students have to respond I would write a post and get them to write their comments in response. If you want to get them to write their responses without each student seeing the other persons responses change your comment setting to all comments must be moderated. This means no comments will be displayed until you approve them. So what you can do is get them all to comment, once they have all commented, approve the comments then get them to read the comments and respond back to each others comments.
@Richard P You can set up several blogs using the same user name and email address. Go to http://edublogs.org/, sign into your Edublogs account and once signed in click on the link on the main Edublogs page that says “Sign up here” under “Get started in seconds for free” and create your new blog.
Or as @notinio highlights inside your dashboard click on Users > Blog & User Creator and complete the details to create a new blog. Thanks @notinio for answering the question for Richard P.
@manal.k You are not doing anything wrong it is just that there are only a few templates that show you the subpages so instead you have to create links to them. There is a few ways you could do this but the simplest would be to open each of the subpages you want to link to in a separate window or tab. Then open up the post for the parent page. Now some text like —
click on the correct link below to access your assignment:
Assignment 1
Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Then copy the URL for each subpage and link the assignment names to their correct subpage.
Another way you could do it is to use a text widget in your sidebar and use HTML. Which means you won’t need to use the parent page. Let me know if you want to use this option and I will help you set it up.
Dear Sue, this is reslly going to drive me cazy!!!!!!
I decided to set up a parent page , assignments page, and sub pages which are ass 1 , ass 2 etc. I set up a page a and made it a part of the assignment page but whenever I open the parent page , I don’t see the sub-page and it does not appear anywhere!!!
when I press on the sentence I have written in this page it takes me directly to the home page!
pleeeeeeeese Sue, have look at my blog and tell me what is it that I have done wrong???????
Hi All,
Well, given enough time I figured it out. edublogs has a utility to create separate blogs and consolidate the admin pages. It is brilliant.
Thanks to everyone who created this great resource for teachers and students!
For those like me … new and trying to figure things out …
on the top right of the admin page is a tab ‘users’ after entering that zone, there is a sub-tab called ‘Blog and User Creator’ this is the tool you will need.
Thanks again
Thanks for all the tips. I am new and this is all very helpful. I have a question:
You say:If you don’t want students from different classes seeing posts/information that don’t relate to their class the best solution is separate blogs for each class. Benefit is students have an increased sense of ownership.
I say: edublogs.org does not permit creating a new edublog with an email address that was used before. I want to set up separate edublogs, but it seems edublogs.org does not expect that from teachers.
Thanks for thinking about this:
Richard P
Thailand
If I am setting up an article or a writing prompt, and I want all of my students to reply to that specific writing “prompt”, is it best to use a Page, a Post, or a comment?
I created a new Page, entitled the name of my topic. However, when the student writes a new Post, the NEW post goes straight to my home page, on top! Not even in the right place.
Should I just write a Post on my “home page”, then have the students add “comments”
I hope this makes sense.
#2. why, on this page, do the messages appear in chronological order, oldest on top? but on the blog site, the posted messages appear with oldest on the bottom?
thank you.
Beth
@Will Glad my advice has helped.
@Juli Good to hear my posts are helping you and will be helpful for your PD sessions. Don’t forget the Manuals on the Getting Started With Edublogs page as some may benefit from using them in your sessions. Please let me know if you need any help with your sessions.
@Manalk Any post you write will automatically appear both on your front page (as default page where your posts appear) and will be filed in the required category. The only way you can stop the posts appearing on the front page is to change your front page to a static page.
You have two options. 1) You can change your front page to a static page (this means no posts will be displayed) and make your post page on a different page on your blog. 2) You can change your front page to a static page (this means no posts will be displayed) and have no post page.
Create your categories by going into your blog dashboard then clicking on Manage > Category and Add new category. Next create page for your student assignments and on this page add the links to each of your categories. e.g.
Click on the correct link to access your assignment:
1. English Assignments
2. Maths Assignments
3. Science Assignments
Now change your front page to your students assignment page which will be a static page. To do this go into your dashboard and click on Settings (right hand side) > then click on Reading Tab. Under Front page displays change setting front page to A Static Page and select your Student assignment page. Now click on Save changes at the bottom of the page.
Dear sue, I’ve set up a categoty for my students assignments. Whenever I write a post and check the assignment box, it appears in the main page as well as in the category . I want only to appear in the categoty, what can I do???
Hi, another great post. I am really getting a lot from your recent posts and am planning to refer to many when I run an inschool session on blogging (by default because I have a blog, not because I know much about it:) )
This really clarified the difference between pages and posts, and enthused me a bit because I think I am probably on the right track with at least that aspect!
Cheers Juli
Thanks for the advice, Sue. I’ve been trying to think of some practical uses for RSS in my middle school classroom, and this is the perfect way to keep 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes organized. I knew I subscribed to your RSS feed for a reason!
Thanks again,
Will
Good question Claire. If the person uses WordPress you need to enter the Feed URL like this http://griggans.edublogs.org/category/year-7/feed/ . I also have similar issue with some of the probloggers. Perhaps a better way to go would be to use AidRSS – here is my post that discusses AidRSS. The idea would be to subscribe to the Good posts or great posts to reduce the number of posts you receive.
Hi Sue, I like the idea of having category feeds; some of the blogs I subscribe to are very prolific and being able to subscribe to just the categories I’m focussed on would be helpful. I’m still a little confused though, as how to subscribe to just the category. I went to Mr. Riggan’s Science blog, clicked one of the Year categories, then copied the url into Google Reader. This resulted in me being subscribed to the entire blog, not just the category. What am I missing? Thanks!
Thanks Larry and as always a great question. You have two options you can just write the HTML code that includes the link and include in your sidebar. Or you can burn a feed for that category using Feedburner and then use their Chicklet Chooser to add the RSS feed to your blog. For example if I wanted to burn a feed with Feedburner for my blogging tips category I would use this URL when I burn the feed http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/category/blogging-tips/. To burn a normal feed for a blog you just use the blog URL e.g. http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/. You can burn Feedburner feeds for any blog category and if you want for your comment feeds.
Sue,
As usual, a great post.
I have one question that others might have also — how do you set-up an RSS feed for an individual category?
Thanks.
Larry