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Open Settings → Reading in your WordPress dashboard to control whether the front page shows your latest posts or a static Page, how many posts appear on archive pages and in feeds, whether feeds contain full text or summaries, and whether search engines are discouraged during development. Save the changes, then check the homepage and a feed. If you use a block theme and the setting appears to do nothing, inspect Appearance → Editor → Templates: a Front Page template there overrides the Reading screen.
What the Reading screen controls
The Reading screen is the central place for deciding how WordPress presents published content to visitors and feed subscribers. It does not edit the words in a post, change your theme’s colors, or manage user permissions. Instead, it sets the site-wide behavior for the front page, post archives, syndication feeds, and a development-stage search-visibility preference.
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|---|---|---|
| Your homepage displays | Latest posts or a selected static Page | The site’s front page |
| Blog pages show at most | Maximum posts per page | Blog index and other page-based post listings that use this value |
| Syndication feeds show the most recent | Maximum number of entries sent to feeds | RSS and Atom feed output |
| For each article in a feed | Full text or Summary/Excerpt | Feed readers and other feed consumers |
| Search engine visibility | Whether WordPress asks search engines not to index the site | Search-crawler guidance, not access control |
Labels can move slightly as WordPress releases and themes evolve, but the functions and the dashboard path remain recognizable. Work through the settings in order, click Save Changes, and verify the public result rather than assuming that a checked box or selected Page has taken effect.
Before you change anything
Use an administrator account
You need a role with permission to manage site options. If Settings → Reading is missing, ask a site administrator or the hosting provider’s WordPress manager; changing themes or browser settings will not make an unauthorized menu appear.
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Publish the Pages you intend to select
A static arrangement requires real WordPress Pages. Create and publish the intended home Page and, if you want a separate blog index, a second Page for posts before opening the Reading screen. Draft or trashed Pages are not suitable selections.
Check whether the site uses a block theme
On a block theme, the Site Editor can define a Front Page template. That template has priority over the homepage choice on the Reading screen. Knowing this in advance prevents a common false diagnosis in which the setting was saved correctly but the visible page is still controlled elsewhere.
Choose what appears on the homepage
Option 1: Your latest posts
Select Your latest posts when the front page should be a chronological blog feed. WordPress then uses the theme’s blog or index presentation to list recent posts. This is appropriate for news sites, personal blogs, journals, and publications where the newest article is the main entry point.
The number of posts shown is controlled separately by Blog pages show at most. If the first page contains more or fewer posts than expected, inspect that number and any theme-specific archive settings before changing the homepage option.
Option 2: A static page
Select A static page when the front page should be a manually designed landing page rather than an automatically generated list of posts. WordPress reveals selectors for a Homepage and an optional Posts page.
- Homepage: the Page visitors see at the site root.
- Posts page: the Page WordPress uses to display the blog index, if you want one.
The two selections must be different Pages. Do not assign the same Page as both the Homepage and Posts page; WordPress requires separate Pages for those roles. The Posts page is usually left nearly empty because the theme supplies the post loop, title, and pagination. Content typed into that Page may not appear as ordinary body content, depending on the theme.
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Save and test the selection
- Open Settings → Reading.
- Under Your homepage displays, choose Your latest posts or A static page.
- If using a static setup, choose the published Homepage and, if needed, a different published Posts page.
- Scroll to the bottom and select Save Changes.
- Look for WordPress’s save confirmation, open the public front page in a private browser window, and check the blog URL separately.
Use a private window or clear the page cache when testing. A cached front page can make a correct change look ineffective, while a misconfigured template can make a saved change appear to have no effect.
Set the number of posts shown on the site
Blog pages show at most
Enter the maximum number of posts WordPress should place on each page of the site’s post listing. This commonly affects the blog index and pagination, although a theme or plugin can supply its own query and ignore the global value. A smaller number produces shorter pages and more pagination; a larger number reduces clicks but can increase page length and image loading.
For example, entering 6 means the first blog page can contain up to six posts before a next-page link is needed. It does not delete older posts, alter publication dates, or limit how many posts exist in the database.
Do not confuse the site count with the feed count
Blog pages show at most and Syndication feeds show the most recent are independent controls. Changing one does not automatically change the other. A site can show six posts per blog page while exposing only three recent entries in its feed, or show ten on the page while sending five to subscribers.
The Learn WordPress walkthrough demonstrates ten posts in both fields. Treat that as the walkthrough’s example/default context, not a universal requirement or a guarantee that every WordPress version starts with ten.
Control how many posts feeds expose
Syndication feeds show the most recent
Enter the number of recent posts WordPress should include in RSS or Atom output. This controls the feed list, not the number of posts visible on your site. Feed readers may cache entries, so a subscriber might not see the change immediately after you save it.
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Choose a count that balances discoverability and resource use. A short feed is easier for readers to scan and limits the amount of older material delivered on every refresh. A longer feed lets a new subscriber see more recent history in one request. The Reading screen does not provide a per-category or per-subscriber count; those require separate feed tools or custom development.
Choose full text or summaries in feeds
Full text
Select Full text under For each article in a feed when subscribers should read the complete post in their feed reader. This is convenient for readers and offline use, but it distributes the entire article and its media references through the feed.
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Summary/Excerpt
Select Summary/Excerpt when the feed should provide a short introduction and direct readers to the full post on your site. This can make a feed easier to scan and keeps the complete article on the canonical page.
Write a deliberate manual excerpt
For important posts, enter a controlled summary in the post editor’s Excerpt field. A manual excerpt lets you choose the exact wording and stopping point instead of relying on an automatic cut through a sentence, list, or quotation. Keep the first sentence informative because some feed readers display only a short preview.
If no manual excerpt is supplied, WordPress can generate one from the first 55 words, according to WordPress.org documentation updated in 2024. That fallback is not a guarantee that every theme or feed plugin will display exactly 55 words; custom templates and plugins may modify the output.
Check the result in an actual feed
- Save the Reading settings with Summary/Excerpt or Full text selected.
- Open the site’s feed URL in a feed reader or a browser that displays XML.
- Confirm the entry count matches Syndication feeds show the most recent.
- Open an entry and verify that the content length matches your selection.
- If the old output remains, purge the site or feed cache and test again; feed consumers can also retain cached copies.
Handle search-engine visibility during development
What the option is for
The Search engine visibility option is intended for a site that is still being built or reviewed. The Learn WordPress walkthrough recommends using it during development and clearing it before production launch. Review the checkbox before launch so a completed site is not accidentally left asking search engines not to index it.
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What it does not do
This setting is not a password wall, a maintenance mode, or a security control. Visitors who know the URL can still load the site. It also cannot guarantee removal of pages already discovered elsewhere. Use authentication, staging protection, or a maintenance solution when the requirement is to prevent public access rather than to send a crawler preference.
Launch checklist
- Confirm the production domain is the one you are editing.
- Clear the development visibility preference before launch, as recommended by Learn WordPress.
- Save the Reading screen and verify the confirmation message.
- Check the homepage, a post, the blog index, and the feed from a logged-out browser.
- Review any SEO or caching plugin that may add its own indexing directive.
Why Settings → Reading may appear not to work
A block-theme Front Page template has priority
The most important exception concerns block themes. If a Front Page template exists in Appearance → Editor → Templates, WordPress uses that template for the front page regardless of the choice under Settings → Reading. This is official Site Editor behavior, not a random failure.
- Open Appearance → Editor.
- Choose Templates.
- Open the Front Page template.
- Edit its blocks to create the intended front page, or remove the template if you want the Reading setting and the theme’s normal handling to control the result.
- Save the template change, then revisit the public homepage.
If the template is intentionally present, do not keep switching the Reading radio buttons expecting them to replace it. Build the desired layout in the Front Page template instead.
The selected Page is not published
Return to the Page editor and confirm the chosen Homepage and Posts page are published and publicly viewable. A Page moved to draft or trash cannot serve reliably as the public destination.
The same Page was selected twice
Check that Homepage and Posts page are different. Create a second Page if necessary, publish it, and select the two Pages again before saving.
A cache is showing the old result
Test while logged out, purge the page cache, and temporarily bypass a content-delivery or server cache if your host provides that control. Also test another browser or private window. Do not keep changing settings until a stale cached response has been ruled out.
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A theme or plugin overrides the global count
Some themes build custom queries for a home section, portfolio, magazine grid, or custom post type. Plugins can also filter feeds or replace excerpts. If the Reading values are saved but only one component ignores them, inspect that component’s template or plugin settings rather than changing the global values repeatedly.
The feed has not refreshed
Feeds are cached by WordPress layers, hosts, proxies, and reader applications. Compare the feed directly in a browser after purging caches, then wait for the subscriber’s next refresh. A feed reader’s stored copy is not proof that the new setting failed.
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| Site goal | Homepage choice | Blog pages | Feed count | Feed format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chronological personal blog | Your latest posts | Choose a count that keeps the index readable | Independent count for subscribers | Full text or Summary/Excerpt according to reader experience |
| Business site with a landing page | A static page with a separate Posts page | Set the blog index count | Set separately | Usually Summary/Excerpt for a concise feed |
| Development site awaiting launch | Either option while building | Set for testing | Set for testing | Set for testing |
| Block-theme marketing site | Reading choice plus a checked Front Page template | Set for the Posts page if used | Set independently | Verify after template and plugin changes |
These are starting configurations, not mandatory presets. The correct values depend on how often you publish, how much content feed subscribers expect, and whether the theme supplies custom templates.
A complete verification routine
Use this routine whenever you change the Reading screen or move from staging to production:
- Record the intended homepage type and the exact Page names before editing.
- Open Settings → Reading and confirm the selected radio button.
- For a static setup, verify that Homepage and Posts page are distinct, published Pages.
- Set the site post count and feed post count independently.
- Select Full text or Summary/Excerpt, and add manual excerpts to posts where wording matters.
- Review Search engine visibility, especially before launch.
- Click Save Changes and confirm WordPress reports a successful save.
- If the front page is unexpected and the site uses a block theme, inspect Appearance → Editor → Templates → Front Page.
- Test the public homepage, the Posts page, a paginated archive, and the feed while logged out.
- Purge relevant caches and repeat the checks if any response still shows old content.
Key distinctions to remember
- A latest-posts homepage and a static homepage are mutually exclusive choices on the Reading screen.
- A static Homepage and a Posts page are separate roles and must be separate Pages.
- The number of posts on the website and the number sent to feeds are separate fields.
- Summary/Excerpt does not automatically mean a carefully written summary; add a manual excerpt when control matters.
- The documented automatic excerpt fallback is the first 55 words when no manual excerpt is supplied, but themes and plugins can alter presentation.
- A block-theme Front Page template takes precedence over the Reading homepage selection.
- Search-engine visibility is a development-stage preference, not a security barrier; review it before launch.
Sources and version context
The procedures and labels above follow WordPress.org documentation and Learn WordPress training. The static-front-page documentation records updates in 2026, while the excerpt guidance was updated in 2024. Because dashboard labels and block-theme behavior can evolve with WordPress releases, use the labels visible in your installation and check the Site Editor caveat whenever a homepage choice seems ineffective.
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