Posts and pages

Hello,

I’m running into a few issues using WordPress as a CMS for the first time…

Most of my site is made of of Pages rather than Posts. All current menu items link to a Page that has been created through the dashboard.

If you visit the site (here) you will notice that the “homepage” actually displays the few posts that I have entered. This is ok, as that is what I want to happen.

Currently, index.php is the only template file I am using in my theme. In that file I have the loop code as follows:

<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

<h1><?php the_title(); ?></h1>

<?php the_content('<p class="serif">Read the rest of this page &raquo;
'); ?>

<?php wp_link_pages(array('before' => '<strong>Pages:</strong> ', 'after' => '
', 'next_or_number' => 'number')); ?>

<?php endwhile; endif; ?>

This is somehow displaying my posts when you first hit the site, and then the page to a corresponding link that is clicked.

The question is: where do I go to change HOW these posts appear on the “homepage”? Is it in the “loop” that is right there on the index page? Or, will that mess up my pages?

A second question to all this is: How do I create a link so that posts appear (say for a news page) instead of an actual page? Can I have links for both pages and posts in the same menu?

Not sure if all that made any sense, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Matt