Pages vs. News Posts
Pages and News Posts serve very different purposes in the School of Medicine web system. This page explains when to use Pages and when to use News Posts, and how each affects your site’s structure and visitor experience.
What Are Pages?
Pages make up the structure of your website and contain the information that defines what your site is about. They are intended for for long-term content that belongs in navigation and search results, not for short-term announcements.
Key characteristics of Pages
- Appear in the top and left-hand navigation
- Can have parent and child pages (page hierarchy which builds out the left nav)
- Form a site’s structure
- Designed for long-term, evergreen content
Use Pages For
- Program and department information
- Faculty and staff resources
- Services, clinics, and offices
- Policies, procedures, and guides
- Landing pages for sections of your site
Examples
- “About the Department”
- “Residency Program”
- “Faculty Resources”
- “Contact Us”
What Are News Posts?
News Posts are time-based content meant to be published, read, and eventually archived. They can be used to communicate updates, announcements, and stories.
Key characteristics of News Posts
- Displayed in News feeds and listings
- Organized by date
- Do not appear in site navigation
- Older posts move down the list automatically
Use News Posts For
- Faculty and staff announcements (new hires, promotions, retirements)
- Research breakthroughs and grant awards
- Publications and major discoveries
- Student achievements and awards
- Residency match results
- Accreditation updates
- Lecture series announcements
- Visiting speakers
- Community outreach and service projects
- Media mentions and press coverage
- Department milestones
- Fundraising campaigns and donor recognition
- Calls for applications (fellowships, scholarships, training programs)
How Pages and News Posts Work Together
Many School of Medicine sites use both
- Pages to hold core information
- News Posts which provide a way of communicating announcements, awards, and noteworthy highlights
For example:
A Page might be “Department of Neurology.” That page might include a News feed showing recent announcements, awards, and events. This keeps your main content stable while allowing fresh updates to rotate automatically.