Change forum Blog page to landing page

This archived community thread from the APG vNext support forum discusses: Change forum Blog page to landing page.

About This Topic

Hello Sam, I consider changing my blog page to landing page, but there is some thing I want to change the display: 1-Vnext Blog show up articles wh...

Getting Help with APG vNext

APG vNext is a powerful ASP.NET forum and community platform. For questions related to this topic:

Browse the Knowledge Base for documented solutions
Search the community forum for similar threads
Check the FAQ for common questions and answers
Review the Installation and Upgrade guides

If you need direct assistance, the support team is active in the community forum.

Changing the APG vNext Blog Page to a Custom Landing Page

APG vNext's /community/Blog URL renders the blog listing by default. You can repurpose it as a custom landing page by overriding the skin template or using a URL rewrite redirect.

Option 1 - Custom Blog Template in Skin

-- Override: /skins/[YourSkin]/blog-listing.ascx
-- Replace content while keeping the Control directive at the top

Option 2 - Redirect to Static Page

<rule name="BlogToLanding" stopProcessing="true">
  <match url="^community/Blog$" />
  <action type="Redirect" url="/announcements" redirectType="Permanent" />
</rule>

Option 3 - News Card Grid Style

.apg-blog-list {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(300px, 1fr));
  gap: 1.5rem;
}
.apg-blog-item {
  background: #fff;
  border-radius: 12px;
  box-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0,0,0,.08);
  overflow: hidden;
}

Set Blog as Community Homepage

<add key="APG.Community.HomepageMode" value="Blog" />

Related Resources

Converting the APG vNext Blog to a Landing Page

Some communities prefer to use the APG vNext community blog URL (/community/blog) as a customised landing page rather than a standard chronological blog feed. This is particularly useful for product communities where the landing page should promote specific content (pinned announcements, featured articles, quick-start guides) rather than showing the most recent posts.

Setting a Custom Homepage Template

<!-- web.config: use a custom template for the blog/community homepage -->
<add key="APG.Blog.HomeTemplate" value="custom-landing" />
<!-- APG vNext looks for: /skins/[YourSkin]/templates/custom-landing.ascx -->

Creating the Custom Landing Template

The custom template is a standard ASP.NET User Control (.ascx) that has access to all APG vNext template variables. A landing page template typically includes:

A hero section with a call-to-action (e.g., "Join our community")
A pinned announcements section pulling from APG.Blog.PinnedPosts
A recent activity widget showing the latest forum threads
Category cards linking to each forum section
A member statistics section (total members, posts today, online members)

Using the Standard Blog as a News/Updates Section

Instead of replacing the blog homepage entirely, consider keeping the blog at /community/blog and redirecting the forum root (/community) to a custom landing page using IIS URL Rewrite. This preserves the blog's URL for SEO while giving your community a more engaging entry point:

<!-- web.config: redirect /community root to landing page -->
<rule name="Community Root to Landing" stopProcessing="true">
  <match url="^community/?$" />
  <action type="Redirect" url="/community/welcome"
          redirectType="Temporary" />
</rule>

SEO Considerations for the Landing Page

The forum landing page is one of the most important pages for SEO — it's the entry point that search engines use to discover all other forum content. Ensure the landing page includes a structured overview of forum categories, recent activity, and clear navigation links to all major sections. A well-structured landing page with diverse internal links helps search engines understand the forum's topic areas and index more content efficiently. Include a self-referencing canonical tag and ensure the landing page is included in the sitemap with a high priority value.

Analytics and Conversion Tracking on the Landing Page

Converting the forum blog page to a landing page creates an opportunity to track conversion goals that aren't measurable on a standard blog feed. Goals worth tracking on a forum landing page include new member registrations (did the landing page visitor create an account?), thread creation (did they start a discussion?), and content engagement (how long did they stay and what did they click?). APG vNext's Google Analytics integration tracks page views automatically, but conversion goals require custom event tracking configured in your Google Analytics account and triggered by APG vNext's JavaScript event system.

Triggering Registration Conversion Event

// APG vNext JS event — fires when a new member registers:
document.addEventListener('apg:registration:complete', function(e) {
  gtag('event', 'sign_up', {
    method: 'forum',
    event_category: 'engagement',
    event_label: 'Landing Page Registration'
  });
});

Configure corresponding conversion goals in Google Analytics 4 to measure how effectively the landing page drives new member registrations, enabling data-driven optimisation of landing page content and calls-to-action over time.

A/B Testing Landing Page Variants

Once your forum landing page is live, use A/B testing to optimise it for conversion. APG vNext is compatible with Google Optimize and VWO for A/B testing — serve different landing page variants to different visitor segments and measure which version drives more registrations or deeper engagement. Even simple tests (changing the hero headline, reordering sections, adding or removing a featured thread widget) can reveal what resonates with your target audience. Run each test for at least two weeks with sufficient traffic to reach statistical significance before declaring a winner. Iterative landing page optimisation compounds over time, steadily improving conversion rates from search traffic and referral visits.

Related Resources

Looking for more help? Browse the support forum or check the Knowledge Base.