TwentyThirteen theme Posts page shows posts instead of page content

Question

Under:

Settings -> Reading -> Front page displays -> A static page -> Posts page

I can choose the name of a WordPress page from the drop-down menu.

How come WordPress takes the page title, displays the page title in the menu on the front page, and then, when I click on the page title I am shown the blog posts, instead of that page's content?

This makes me think pages are not suitable for use in this area as once I designate a page as the posts page, its content becomes hidden and is no longer visible. Could someone please explain why WordPress works in this way?

The way the

Settings -> Reading -> Front page displays -> A static page -> Front page

works on the other hand is clear. When the user goes to the URL corresponding to the WordPress document root or clicks on the text in the header, WordPress displays this page.

Answer 1

The only way you can select a "posts page" is if you have Front page displays set to a static page. If you have Front page displays set to your latest posts, the dropdown selects for Front page and Posts page are disabled.

So, assuming you have Front page displays set to a static page:

• Front page is the page assigned to display on the site front page. This page's content is displayed if, per the Template Hierarchy, the page.php template is used to render it. (That may or may not be true if front-page.php or a custom page template is used.)
• Posts page is the page assigned to display the blog posts index. It is by design that this page displays the main blog posts index, rather than the post_content of the page assigned as the posts page. The Posts page is a special page, that is assigned to this special use.

There are ways for this page's post_content to be displayed even when assigned as the Posts page, but the Theme would have to account for that explicitly, via the home.php template file, and direct query of get_post( get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) ).