How To Change The Style Of Blog Page On Wordpress

The Total theme of course also includes support for a blog via the standard posts. All you need to do is add your posts like normal and then setup your blog page to display your latest posts. You have 3 methods you can use to create your "main" blog page. You can use the blog template, use the WordPress reading settings or use the Visual Composer to insert your posts on any page. Below you will find the various methods for setting up the blog page as well as instructions on adding your posts.

Blog Template

If you are using the homepage as a static page you can create your blog page using the included blog template. Simply create a new page and under the Page Attributes section select the Blog template. Then publish your page. Now all you have to do is add blog posts and customize your blog using the Blog options in the Customizer.

blog-template

Reading Settings

Alternatively you can leave your blog page using the default template and set your blog page under Settings->Reading this way it will use the index.php template file instead.

reading-settings

Important: If your blog is setup in this manner you can not use the Visual Composer to add content to the blog page because it's not technically a page anymore but it now becomes an "archive". If you want to use the Visual Composer to add content above the blog posts then use the Page Template as mentioned above or use the Visual Composer to create a custom blog as mentioned below.

Blog Setup Using Visual Composer

total-vc-blog

You can also create a "Blog" using a blank page and inserting any of the available modules to display your blog posts.

Blog Grid – inserts a grid of blog posts with many customization options
Blog Carousel – displays a carousel of latest blog posts
Recent News – displays your latest posts with a little date on the side (optional) but can also be used as a grid.
Post Types Grid – same as the blog grid but you can display posts from different post types
Post Types Archive – displays your posts exactly how they are setup in the Customizer for your blog "archives" based on the template files at Total/partials/blog/

Single Post Builder

To change the layout of your blog post you can browse to Appearance > Customize > Blog > Single and alter your "Single Layout Elements". Use the options to enable, disable, drag and drop single entry post elements. Alternatively you can build a custom post design via the Dynamic Template function.