Post pages in Wordpress 2.9

Question

I'm trying to use a posts page in Wordpress. For the uninitiated, this is a page (other than the home page) which features all your blog posts. You essentially turn on the static home page and point Wordpress at a custom index. Then you tell Wordpress to use another custom template as your "posts page"; thereafter, any post you make will wind up there.

My custom template for the 'Blog' page shows up as expected until I define it as the posts page. When I do, the template reverts to my custom index and I get no posts. When I undefine it as the posts page, it goes back to my template. What am I missing? I'm new to using this method, as it used to be done with a plugin prior to WP 2.9

Answer 1

Your problem might be in creating "templates" and the single post (single.php) You can create a template for any of your pages by putting this in the top of your page (after the first < ? php:

/**Template Name: ****templatenamehere**** @package WordPress * @subpackage Default_Theme */

...rest of code

This allows you to create a page called "posts" which references your new template. This way you can create a new template and then call it through a page. If this is confusing or you have tried this let me know and I will try to give you more details if you need. Thanks

Answer 2

So, I figured out the solution and wanted to share. Thanks for all your input, everyone.

The problem was with the name I chose for the template. I had called it "blog.php", which works fine when creating an ordinary page template. But when using a page as a posts page, Wordpress has some specific setup rules. The pertinent section of documentation, which I scoured the entire internet for using hours of my life I'll never get back, is hidden here:

Also, any Template assigned the Page will be ignored and the theme's index.php (or home.php if it exists) will control the display of the posts. (from here).

So, I named my template "home.php", since I wasn't using a home.php in this particular install, and I was off to the races. Anyway, thanks for the answers!

BTW, I think this may have been what Richard M was getting at.