{"id":19845,"date":"2019-01-04T10:46:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T08:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/?p=19845"},"modified":"2019-01-04T15:42:00","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T15:42:00","slug":"wordpress-post-formats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themeisle.com\/blog\/wordpress-post-formats\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are WordPress Post Formats and Why They Don’t Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Confused by what WordPress post formats are and whether or not you actually need to care about them?<\/p>\n

WordPress post formats are kind of like a premade template that you can apply to a blog post to give it a different layout\/look on the front-end of your site.<\/p>\n

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In this article, we\u2019ll dig deeper into what WordPress post formats are and how they differ from other common features of the platform. Then, we’ll share some thoughts on why post formats are often not that helpful, and why most WordPress users don’t actually bother with post formats.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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What are WordPress post formats? Explained in more detail<\/h2>\n

If you open up a WordPress post in your dashboard, you\u2019ll find a number of handy widgets in the right-hand sidebar. There\u2019s the Publish<\/em> box, for example, which lets you save your posts or make them live. In the same sidebar, you can also assign categories and tags<\/a>, and add a featured image to each post.<\/p>\n

However, there\u2019s one often overlooked section \u2013 the Format<\/em> widget. You\u2019ve probably seen it before and not given it much thought.<\/p>\n

Here’s what it looks like in the older WordPress Classic editor<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

And here’s what it looks like in the new Gutenberg block editor<\/a>. Instead of a list of radio boxes, you get a drop-down in the Status & Visibility<\/strong> widget:<\/p>\n

\"Post<\/p>\n

There are a number of options here, with Standard<\/em> being the default. Each one of these choices is a different WordPress post format, a feature that\u2019s been included in WordPress since Version 3.1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The question is, what do WordPress post formats do? In a nutshell, the format that you select tells your theme how to lay out your blog post, which lets you customize your post’s appearance. The Standard<\/em> option is kind of like your theme’s default blog post look, while the other formats let you switch things up.<\/p>\n

For example, the Audio<\/em> post format might add an audio player at the top of your post, which is helpful if you’re writing about music or something similar.<\/p>\n

So what do these various post formats look like?<\/p>\n

Well, there’s no single answer here because the formatting of the other options depends on your theme, since developers can design what each post format will look like. In fact, some WordPress themes don’t support all the available post formats, which means you might see fewer choices in the list.<\/p>\n

What do the different WordPress post formats do?<\/h2>\n

For the most part, a WordPress post format results in surprisingly little change to the appearance of a given post. In fact, the majority of themes no longer bother with post formats<\/strong>. This means even if you choose something other than the default option, your post might look exactly the same as it would have otherwise.<\/p>\n

The themes that do<\/em> still use post formats still tend to keep things simple. For example, here\u2019s what a Standard<\/em> post looks like in the Hueman blogging theme<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

If you were to change the WordPress post format to Quote<\/em>, you’d see a simple image adding some quotation marks to the post:<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Status<\/em> post type, on the other hand, increases the font size<\/a> and removes the post title:<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

This is a pretty representative example of what you\u2019ll find if you try experimenting with post formats on your own site.<\/p>\n

What is the difference between WordPress post formats and post types?<\/h2>\n

One of the reasons the concept of a post format can be confusing is because it sounds a lot like a \u2018post type\u2019. However, it\u2019s important to understand that these are two entirely different features.<\/p>\n

The term post type<\/a> is a bit of a misnomer \u2013 it\u2019s actually a broad term for the various kinds of content on your site. The two main post types are Post (<\/em>capital “P”) and Page<\/em>. As you probably know, WordPress handles and displays these<\/a> very differently.<\/p>\n

Many themes and plugins will add new post types to your site in order to help you create certain kinds of content more easily. For example, the WooCommerce eCommerce plugin<\/a> adds a new “Products” post type that helps you add and manage products at your store:<\/p>\n

\"Creating<\/p>\n

You can even create your own custom post types<\/a> if you like.<\/p>\n

Overall, post types are a central WordPress feature, and one you\u2019ll want to become very familiar with.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, post formats only apply to actual WordPress posts and are a lot less flexible. This leads us to our final question…<\/p>\n

Should you use WordPress post formats on your site?<\/h2>\n

Ultimately, in the vast majority of circumstances, there\u2019s little point in changing your WordPress post format to anything other than Standard<\/em><\/strong>. There are a number of reasons for this:<\/p>\n