With the advent of Layout Builder as a means of creating easy, robust, well-designed pages, it understandable users will immediately look to how to use this for their site's homepage. But, as you'll quickly discover, the homepage provided out-of-the-box doesn't permit the use of Layout Builder since it's not a "regular" page; it solely relies on global blocks to build its content. The good news is that this is an easy change and only requires the person to have the Site Manager role to accomplish it.
NOTE: Swapping a homepage for a basic page with the Layout Builder option ONLY applies to sites that existed BEFORE August 19, 2023. New sites created after that date already have homepages capable of utilizing the feature.
Create and Swap Homepages
- Create a Basic page, provide a title, and then Save.
- Edit the page and make a note of the URL alias field under Additional Options to see what the path name is for the new homepage.
- Now, click the Layout tab and begin building out your new homepage. Refer to our training documentation as needed to help you achieve your goal.
- Once you're satisfied with the new look, a Site Manager can navigate to Manage » Configuration » System section » Basic site settings.
- Locate the Front page section with the field displaying the current page to your homepage. It might presently be filled with /node or /home, or perhaps a custom homepage if you've replaced the homepage previously. Make note of the path just in case you need to swap it back.
- Update the field with the URL alias information you noted in step 2.
- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the Save configuration button.
- Go to your new home page and click the Regions Override button in the upper right corner. Change its setting to No Sidebars and click the Save configuration button.
- If your site is already live but checking an incognito window does not show your site has updated, it may be that the Fastly Web Application Firewall cache needs to be cleared for this page. Navigate to Shortcuts » Blocks and add the Purge this Page block at the bottom of the Footer Credits region (ensure you very carefully follow the instruction regarding the assigned roles). Return to your homepage and Purge your homepage. Check the incognito window again after a moment to see if it's updated.
- Once it appears live you're now able to update and modify your homepage through the Layout tab interface.
If you experience any difficulties with the process, please reach out to the SiteFarm team at sitefarm@ucdavis.edu.