Changing your blog style is not just for layout, but also for what style of featured image you want.
You get 4 blog styles, 7 with the pro version:
- Top Featured Image Centered - Top featured image with no left or right sidebars and the layout is centered
- Top Featured Image Left Sidebar - Top featured image with a left sidebar column
- Top Featured Image Right Sidebar - Top featured image with a right sidebar column
Screenshots
Here are examples of available blog style options in the order of the list above:
When you choose your style of layout, it’s best to prepare your featured images to be sized for the choice you make so that page load times can be limited. For example, if you use the Left Featured Image style, try not to use images that are wider than 500 pixels at the most. Height can give you a bit more flexibility as there are no restrictions, other than how it looks on the front of your site. Here is a guide for featured image sizes:
- Top Featured Image Centered - you can have up to 1140 pixels in width and height can be up to you
- Top Featured Left or Right Sidebar - I would recommend not going larger than 750 pixels in width.
Note If you started off with larger images, and then change your style to the Small style, you will still be OK because the layouts will force the image to resize (downsize).
Change Your Blog Style
- Go to Appearance >> Customize >> Blog Options
- Find the “Blog Style” setting and make your choice
- Click “Save & Publish” at the top of the column.
Single Post Layout
In addition to the blog’s home style and layout, you also get the option to select the layout for your full post view — this is when you click on a “Read More” link and view the post in full.
- Go to Appearance >> Customize >> Blog Options
- Find the “Single Post Layout” setting
- Click Save & Publish
Blog Post Summaries - Content vs. Excerpts
The blog post summaries are the “intros” that you see when you first go to a blog. This is normally recognized when you see each summary with a title, perhaps a featured image, and then the “Read More” button or link. Post summaries are only part of a full post and will only show on the blog’s home page.
With this theme, you get a couple of options to display your summaries:
- Content - This is going to give you a summary that can include formatting, images, and a “Continue” link.
- Excerpt - This gives you a set number of words that keeps each summary consistent; no formatting, no images, but will give you a “Continue” link as well.
For more information about this, refer to the “Basic Theme Setup” section for a tutorial that takes you through this option.