Building Custom Archive Page Layouts

This article shows you how to create custom archive page layouts to organise your blog posts, categories, and tags.

What Are Archive Pages

Archive pages automatically collect and display groups of your content. WordPress creates them for:

• Blog post categories (like "News" or "Tips")
• Tags you assign to posts
• Monthly or yearly date ranges
• Author pages (if you have multiple writers)

By default, these pages look basic. Customising them makes your website look more professional and helps visitors find content easily.

Method 1: Using Your Theme's Built-in Options

Most modern WordPress themes include archive page settings:

1. Go to your WordPress admin dashboard
2. Click Appearance → Customize
3. Look for sections named "Blog", "Archive", or "Posts"
4. Choose your layout options:
   • Grid or list view
   • Number of posts per page
   • Show excerpts or full content
   • Include featured images
5. Click Publish to save changes

If you don't see these options, your theme might not include them. Try Method 2 instead.

Method 2: Using the Block Editor for Archive Templates

Newer WordPress themes support full site editing, which lets you design archive pages directly:

1. Go to Appearance → Theme Editor (or Editor)
2. Click Templates in the sidebar
3. Look for templates named:
   • "Archive" (for general archives)
   • "Category" (for category pages)
   • "Tag" (for tag pages)
4. Click on the template you want to edit
5. Use the WordPress block editor to:
   • Add a Query Loop block to display posts
   • Insert Post Title, Post Excerpt, and Featured Image blocks
   • Add styling blocks for spacing and colours
6. Click Save when finished

Method 3: Creating Custom Archive Pages Manually

For complete control, create specific pages for important categories:

1. Go to Posts → Categories
2. Note the "slug" of categories you want custom pages for
3. Go to Pages → Add New
4. Create your page content using your page builder
5. Add a "Latest Posts" or "Blog Posts" widget
6. Filter it to show only posts from your chosen category
7. Publish the page
8. Go to Appearance → Menus to link to your new page

This method works well for main business categories like "Services" or "Case Studies".

Adding Visual Elements to Archive Pages

Make your archive pages more engaging:

• Header images: Add category-specific banners using custom images
• Descriptions: Write category descriptions in Posts → Categories
• Filtering options: Add tag clouds or category lists in sidebars
• Pagination: Ensure visitors can navigate between pages of posts
• Related content: Include links to other relevant categories

If you're still stuck with customising your archive pages, contact Web60 support for help with your specific theme and requirements.

FAQ

Q: Why don't my archive pages show up in search results?

A: Archive pages need content and proper titles. Add category descriptions and ensure your SEO plugin is configured to index archive pages.

Q: Can I have different layouts for different categories?

A: Yes, with full site editing themes you can create specific templates for each category. Go to Appearance → Theme Editor → Templates and create new category-specific templates.

Q: How many posts should I show on archive pages?

A: Between 6-12 posts per page works well. Too many slow down loading, too few require excessive clicking. You can change this in Settings → Reading.

Q: My archive pages look different from my main blog page - is this normal?

A: Yes, archive pages use different templates than your main blog page. You can customise them separately or make them match using the same methods described above.

Q: Can I add custom content above my post listings on archive pages?

A: Yes, edit your archive templates to add text, images, or other content blocks above the post query loop. Category descriptions also appear automatically on category archive pages.

Q: Do I need to create archive pages for tags as well as categories?

A: Not necessarily. Focus on your main categories first. Tag archives are useful if you use tags strategically, but categories are usually more important for site navigation.