How To Display Summaries On Home Page

[ronin]

I'm new here and know very little about the programming aspects of blogs.

I would like my WP blog to display snippets or a portion of the post with a "read more" or similar link to the individual posts.

Right now, my home page shows the full page and the category sections display the the snippets.

How can I display them on my home page instead of only within the category sections?

I apologize if I have posted to the wrong section of the forum and with that, I'd also like to give a big "Hello!" to this forum and members!

Thanks!

[jshaffstall]

There's a plugin that'll do it without editing themes: Homepage Excerpts Wordpress Plugin

Personally, though, I hate having to click an extra time to read the full post.

Jay

[ronin]

Thank you Jay!

I have looked at the link and saved it to read again this evening. Now, they raise an issue that was going to be my next post.

My blog is http:// www. crime-information. com/ (remove link if not permitted - sorry)

They mention the duplicate content built into many or most WP themes and that Google penalizes this. I'm not sure of that, I've heard they disregard one and credit the original content.

For example on my blog, there's the original post that I wrote displayed on the home page. It's tagged to 1 or more categories. In the category section, they appear as excerpts like http:// www crime-information com/category/crime-information (in crime information category)

And if the excerpt is clicked it takes you to a duplicate full version (as on the home page) except they contain a unique URL such as www crime-information com/crime-escalates-as-heat-rises, showing the custom title I gave it when posted.

I realize that as my number of 8 posts displayed bumps posts off of the home page, that there will only be the excerpt and the properly titled full version - and when this happens, there is no longer a duplicate version - since it's gone from the index page and only appears in the category excerpts and the actual post with the URL I assigned it, left existing.

I thought about this and decided that I agree with you and am not going to use the excerpts on the home page, post more often, and since I post very long articles, maybe cut that amount down to maybe 3 to 5 posts displaying on the home page. This should get them off the main page quicker and curtail the dup. content issue??

I would love to hear your thoughts on this?

Thanks for reading and responding to my thread!

Chuck

[jshaffstall]

I agree with you on the duplicate content issue. Duplicate content can be an issue for sites in general, but it's permanent duplicate content that causes problems. When you post often enough, the home page posts cycle often enough that you don't need to worry about it there.

I think limiting the number of posts you display on your home page is a good idea. It'll help your blog load faster, and cycle posts off the front page quicker. Make sure you have a "recent posts" list in the sidebar, so people can get to recent posts that have scrolled off.

You've got a good permalink structure, too, so you should be in pretty good shape for SEO, if your theme is optimized (or you're running something like the All-in-One SEO plugin).

Jay

[ronin]

Thank you for confirming my intentions and also for the links and advice. You have been a great help. I'm going to find out about the "All-in-One SEO plugin".

I don't think I have that but will research it and get it installed if my theme allows. It's not very old so I hope that I can make use of a handy SEO tool!

Thanks Again - It's very warm in Port Clinton today, I hope that Columbus is sharing this warm Spring day too.

Best Regards,
Chuck