I have done many projects over the last year or so that use Wordpress as the back end but not for the typical blog setup. Most websites setup like this (an example is my setup here) will feature the same design and layout thought the whole site, but the homepage will be a static page with a blog component that is seemingly just another part of the site.

Wordpress gives us the ability to use it as a CMS to make a traditional website with a blog, all easily editable, and extremely easy to manage.

In this tutorial I will show you how to configure a Wordpress installation for just such a setup. None of this is particularly groundbreaking, but I thought a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it could possibly help someone out. I also offer some plugins that help streamline the WP admin interface for yourself or maybe your web-unsavvy client.

1. The Install

There is nothing new here - you still do the famous 5 minute install. The only thing I do slightly different is to put all the Wordpress files into their own directory on the hosting server. After I do that, I then move the .htaccess and the modified index.php files from the Wordpress directory into the root of your hosting server.

This step is not necessary, but being the neat-freak that I am, I have made this a standard on all my Wordpress installs.

2. Creating the Theme Templates

Many times the traditional website has a homepage with a slightly different layout as the rest of the site. The rest of the static portion (pages) of site will most likely use the single.php and page.php template files, but to make the homepage unique, we need to create a new homepage.php template. The only thing other than your creativity required here is a php comment at the top of it like this:

<?php
/*
Template Name: CMS Homepage
*/
?>

That was the homepage. But now what about the blog section of the site?

For this, we use the standard index.php template file. This file should look like any other index.php template file out there.

3. Creating the Pages

Next up is the page creation. Head on over to Write > Pages within your Wordpress administration panel and create two new pages. Title one of the new pages FRONTPAGE and the other POSTSPAGE.

Depending on whether your homepage.php template warrants it or not, you may or may not need to add text to the page. Many times, these FRONTPAGE and POSTPAGE pages are just dummy placeholders and require no text or descriptive title.

When creating the FRONTPAGE page, scroll down to the bottom and open the widget for "Page Template." Within there, you should see the new template we just created called CMS Homepage. Choose CMS Homepage and save.

4. Setting the Options

The final step is to change the "Front page displays" option within your Settings > Reading administration page. Choose the respective pages from the drop-down list that match what you are trying to accomplish.

Voila! You now have a static website setup with a blog. Like I said before, this isn't ground breaking, but it could be useful for those that are just starting out setting up Wordpress.

Plugins that Help Transform Wordpress into a Basic CMS for your Clients

Once the setup is complete, these plugins can help streamline the interface even more. Let me know if there are any more out there that may help that I am missing.

• Simple CMS - The Simple CMS WordPress plugin converts the WordPress blog tool into a basic CMS (Content Management System). Simple CMS removes all of the complicated blogging functionality which is not needed for a basic static website. This allows for easier use of the admin panel by non web designers.

• Dashboard Editor - the Dashboard is great souce of information sometimes, but for some clients we design for, it may not be the best use of space. Use this plugin to change that.

• IWG Hide Dashboard - If you don't want to use the Dashboard at all, this plugin gives you the possibility to hide the Dashboard for selected users. It requires the installation of the popular Role Manager Plugin.

• Wordpress Admin Themes - Starting with Wordpress 2.5, you had the ability to install a theme for your admin backend. Some popular options are Fluency and Leopard

• FreshPost - A plugin that pushes Wordpress towards a practical content management solution. It allows you to create multiple custom write panels, add custom fields and much more.

• Article Templates - If your posts are kind of unique in layout, and are a hassle to retype each time, consider this plugin. I use it, and I don't know how I ever ran PghDesigners.com without it.