How to use a custom post type archive as front page?

Question

I'd like to use a custom post type archive as a site's front page, so that

 http://the_site.com/

is a custom post type archive displayed according to my archive-{post-type}.php file.

Ideally I would like to alter the query using is_front_page() in my functions.php file. I tried the following, with a page called "Home" as my front page:

 add_filter('pre_get_posts', 'my_get_posts');
 function my_get_posts($query){
     global $wp_the_query;
     if(is_front_page()&&$wp_the_query===$query){
        $query->set('post_type','album');
        $query->set('posts_per_page',-1);
     }
     return $query;
 }

but the front page is returning the content of "Home" and seems to be ignoring the custom query.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a better way, in general, of going about this?

Answer 1

After you have set a static page as your home page you can add this to your functions.php and you are good to go. This will call the archive-POSTTYPE.php template correctly as well.

add_action("pre_get_posts", "custom_front_page");
function custom_front_page($wp_query){
    //Ensure this filter isn't applied to the admin area
    if(is_admin()) {
        return;
    }

    if($wp_query->get('page_id') == get_option('page_on_front')):

        $wp_query->set('post_type', 'CUSTOM POST TYPE NAME HERE');
        $wp_query->set('page_id', ''); //Empty

        //Set properties that describe the page to reflect that
        //we aren't really displaying a static page
        $wp_query->is_page = 0;
        $wp_query->is_singular = 0;
        $wp_query->is_post_type_archive = 1;
        $wp_query->is_archive = 1;

    endif;

}

Answer 2

Re-name your CPT archive to home.php

Then use pre_get_posts to alter the home page query so only CPT's display

function wpsites_home_page_cpt_filter($query) {
if ( !is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() && is_home() ) {
$query->set('post_type', array( 'your-cpt' ) );
    }
  }

add_action('pre_get_posts','wpsites_home_page_cpt_filter');

Replace your-cpt with the name of your custom post type.

Answer 3

Thanks for the answer ljaas—I was looking to solve this exact problem. In order to get the custom post type archive template to be called I had to add the following conditions:

$wp_query->is_post_type_archive = 1;
$wp_query->is_archive = 1;

Answer 4

This works better for me overriding both blog posts and static page in Settings > Reading > Front page displays:

<?php
/**
 * Set custom post type archive as front page.
 *
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
function ql_set_as_front_page( $query ) {
    if ( is_admin() || ! $query->is_main_query() ) {
        return;
    }
    if ( ql_is_front_page( $query ) ) {
        $query->set( 'page_id', '' );
        $query->is_page = false;
        $query->is_singular = false;
        $query->set( 'post_type', 'MYCPT' );
        $query->is_archive = true;
        $query->is_post_type_archive = true;
    }
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'ql_set_as_front_page' );

/**
 * Taken from WP_Query::is_front_page and adapted to compare page_on_front with current page ID.
 * 
 * @since 1.0.0
 * 
 * @param object $query The main WP Query.
 */
function ql_is_front_page( $query ) {
    if ( 'posts' == get_option( 'show_on_front') && $query->is_home() )
        return true;
    elseif ( 'page' == get_option( 'show_on_front') && get_option( 'page_on_front' ) && $query->get('page_id') == get_option( 'page_on_front' ) )
        return true;
    else
        return false;
}

I'm using it in conjunction with a template override using the filters front_page_template and home_template to return a custom template.

Answer 5

For me it breaks the pagination : either you select the index or a static page as the home page, the pagination links shows up but when clicking on page 2 I get :

• in case of index page (default) : the 404 page
• in case of static page : the same results as page 1 : the "paged" argument is then interpreted to show the page type pagination, not the post type list pagination.

I think it needs some rewrite rules to catch the paged argument and pass it correctly.

Anyway, a custom template page should be the solution with some additional rewrite rules.