How to Configure Joomla 3 Blog Layout Options?

In this tutorial, we will walk you through how to personalize the "Blog Layout Options" so as to change the default front page settings. Under most circumstance, a Joomla 3 website displays four heading articles in one column for the frontend. As you may suspect, the detailed process of changing the number of heading articles and default column will be mainly covered in the following parts. Now, let's go straight to the point. 

How to Change the Default Number of Heading Articles?

To start with, we will throw a spotlight on the inbuilt "# Leading Articles" tab that is used to control how many articles will be shown on your Joomla 3 front page. Note that, the "Leading Articles", be "Featured Articles" or "Category Blog", always appear in the full display width. In the next snapshot, you can easily notice that how the Joomla 3 homepage changes when the default setting is set to two. 



Step 1 – Enter Main Menu Section
To change the number of articles on the front page, you should firstly log onto your Joomla admin panel. Upon entering, just expand the "Menus" option from the upper-left toolbar and then choose this "Main Menu" or the option with a house logo to the right. Do not click to add new menu item here. 



Step 2 – Access Home Menu Item
The next step is to find and make a hit on the menu item that includes a yellow star within the "Home" section. Here, we're going to click on the "Home" menu to configure the appearance of blog layout. 



Step 3 – Expand Blog Layout Options
As noted, this "Menu Manager" page prompts you to select a "Menu Item Type" to customize. Taking the example of the "Category Blog" type here, you will be presented with a good number of editing tabs, such as "Category", "Options", "Integration", "Link Type", "Page Display", etc. All you need to do is open this "Blog Layout" tab as below. 



Step 4 – Change the Leading Articles Value
It is easy to find out the option labelled as "# Leading Articles" on the configuration page. Just replace the default value with your preferred one in the text box. If you change the setting to "0", then no article will be displayed using the full width. 

How to Display Intro Articles in Different Columns?

By definition, the "# Intro Articles" tab is designed to specify how many articles can be placed after the mentioned "Leading Articles." This setting can also be edited and styled to your requirements, and you only need to repeat the above Step 1 to Step 3 to enter the "Intro Articles" setting page. In the following blank box, you can define the number of articles that you'd like to show. 



If you wish, it is also possible to modify the number of columns that those "Intro Articles" are displayed in the "# Columns" area. This setting is normally between one and three, and your "Intro Articles" will appear with the full width once "1" is applied. Assuming that you have four "Intro Articles" and two columns, you will get two rows of two columns, but one column is left to be blank. Below are examples of how "intro articles" and "columns" work together to reshape your Joomla 3 homepage. 



After done with all required settings, do remember to press the top "Save" button to take effect. By the way, the rest options of the "Blog Layout" tab provide you the ability to order the articles in "down" or "across" columns, and in the meantime, adjust the article order on the frontend of your Joomla 3 website.