Wordpress: How to Change Latest Posts Design

Question

I want to change the way my 'latest/recent posts' are displayed. Currently they are using a very large thumbnail with a large H1 Heading above it.

I want to make the thumbnail images smaller into a square dimension, and have both the heading (title) and the text directly to the right of that thumbnail image. I'd also like it to be encased in a box/border.

I also want to add a "Latest News" or "Whats New" Banner right above my latest/recent posts.

Keep in mind I am using Wordpress. That being said, which file do I edit/code? And what are the lines.

Here is my current post layout/design: http://puu.sh/74mhm.jpg

and Here is a perfect example of my desired result: http://puu.sh/74mj5.jpg

Thanks in advance all.

Cheers!

Answer 1

Go to your theme and edit the index.php, this is the file that formats your post list. Wordpress has a number of ways to format posts though from CSS to the admin console so editing template files should be your last resort.