Tweaking Web Pages to Look Like Websites Rather than Blogs

By Lisa Sabin-Wilson from WordPress Web Design For Dummies

Using a static page as a website front page allows you to get creative with the design and layout of your page. You can assign a page template and/or use widgets to include different types of content and information.

Featured Images: By adding the built-in WordPress feature called Featured Images (or post thumbnails), you can create a page template that includes the titles and excerpts of your most recent blog posts (if you're using a blog) and display them in the body or sidebar with a featured image thumbnail. You use the query_posts() template tag, which displays the four most recent posts from your blog:
```
<?php query_posts('showposts=4'); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<strong><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to
<?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></strong>
<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { the_post_thumbnail('thumbnail'); ?>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>
```
Featured Content Slider: Using a nifty plugin for WordPress called the Featured Content Slider, you can include a slideshow of your most recent posts (if you're using a blog) that contains featured images, excerpts of the text, and the title on your front page, which is a nice way to invite readers into your site to read the posts you have written. The Featured Content Slider provides you with an options page and widget that you can use on your front page.
Testimonials: Many businesses like to include client testimonials on their websites, and one of the best places to display them is on your front page so that your visitors can immediately see quotes from your happy clients.

You can display testimonials with a plugin for WordPress called Collision Testimonials; after you've installed this plugin, you can create testimonials and include them on your front page using a widget that the plugin provides. The plugin also allows you to create a full testimonials page to display all testimonials — be sure to read the plugin documentation to find out how.
Portfolio: In the design field, you will most likely want to show off some of the work you've recently done for web design projects for yourself or your clients. You can accomplish that through the use of WordPress categories, featured images, and the query_posts() template tag. Create a category in your WordPress Dashboard (choose Posts→Categories) called Portfolio (or whatever you wish to call your body of work) and then create posts within the category and be sure to assign featured images to the posts.

To feature specific images, add a specific size for your images in the Theme Functions template called portfolio and then use the query_posts() template tag. Insert these lines of code in your home page template to display just the images (linked to the individual posts) in your portfolio:

<?php query_posts('showposts=3&category_name=design-portfolio'); ?>
<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to
<?php the_title_attribute();?>">
<?php if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) { the_post_thumbnail('portfolio'); ?>
</a>
<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>