need help integrating with a pre-existing site

The easiest way to accomplish these two things is to go to wp-admin/options-reading.php on the domain that wp is installed.

Under Front Page>>Front page displays:, just click the page you want on your front page. You’ll have to create the page first (blog.php?) in wp.

To show x amount of posts, look on the same page and under Blog Pages>>Show at most:, enter the maximum number of posts that you want displayed.

t3ch33,

thanks for the reply. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing. I’m not sure how to use wordpress to “create a page” like you mention in your first post. On the front page, I would like it to have the latest two posts and then if you click “read more” it brings you blog.php where it shows a greater number of posts.

the other thing I can’t figure out is if you click on the permalink, it should present the post on blog.php, not the index. any thoughts?

I’m sorry, I’m not making total sense here. Lets put it this way…
I installed wordpress in the folder /blog/. My index and all of my other site files (like the index, about the company, products, services, etc) exist in the root directory. All I need to figure out (which has been quite challenging) is how to call the information from the last two posts in /blog/ into a section on my /index.php page. I hope that is more concise and clear. Thanks!

You shouldn’t expect a script to fit your preconceptions!
Clicking on the “read more” – it always take you to the single post view. Period. And that is using the single.php template file.
Reading: Template_Hierarchy

Actually, alltogether there is NO need to create/use any blog.php gizmo… that’s NOT a file that WP would recognize. So, don’t try to reinvent the wheel, just use WP’s features in your advantage.

“Create a page” happens in this way: admin > Write > Write Page.
I’d strongly recommend that you get familiar with the basic options/features in your own admin panel, before further posting.

OK, the above was a reply to your earlier post.

As for “calling” recent posts outside of WP on a site’s main page – it has been posted at least 100 times…

You’re trying to show your last few posts on about.php, index.php, blog.php?

If you’re like me and can’t get this wordpress stuff down and you’re a good coder, you will be better off continuing with your current site-especially if you won’t be blogging too much. If you insist on using wordpress, just use the blog functionality, and use a simple sql statement to display the posts on the site that you already have. I really don’t see why anyone would use WordPress to build their main site (except for an actual blog). It’s a big headache.

t3ch33,

If you don’t have anything important to say (like, quote: I really don’t see why anyone would use WordPress to build their main site)
then stop posting confusing statements.
If you don’t understand the question… no need to answer.

t3ch33,

If you don’t have anything important to say (like, quote: I really don’t see why anyone would use WordPress to build their main site)
then stop posting confusing statements.
If you don’t understand the question… no need to answer.

I’m sorry that my comment confused you. I’m sure that the original poster will understand that the first line was asking for clarification. I found that more fitting instead of jumping down his throat and offering no solution at all like other people have.

moshu,

thanks for your help. the link to the template hierarchy is exactly the kind of reference that I needed to get going. Also, I understand how to use the create a page, i was just unfamiliar with getting it to be recognized 1) inside of the site that I have already constructed.

t3ch33 – I also thank you. I agree a lot with what you said about someone with a lot of code experience getting lost inside the world of wordpress. There is a lot of information contained in it’s documentation and sometimes you need a little help finding what you need.

how useful would a library be without a librarian or someone versed in the library sciences?