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Updating a Cover page to Cover-Style Page using Documents

How to build a cover-style homepage with a document page

Updated yesterday

How to think about your homepage

If you are managing your portal homepage, you can use document pages.

Currently, cover pages can serve as the homepage. But it will soon be phased out in 2027. Therefore, we are moving to the use of document pages.

  • Cover pages will receive no new features.

  • You will receive at least six months’ notice before removal.



What has changed

Document pages now support more advanced layout control, making them a true replacement for cover pages.

The enhanced cards grid block (launched in March 2026) introduces:

  • Card and image ratio controls.

  • Image behavior settings such as none, fit, and fill.

  • Horizontal and vertical alignment options.

  • Text max width and image-to-text ratio controls such as 2:1 and 1:1.

  • Text-on-image layouts.

  • Improved style consistency through centralized corner radius controls.

This gives you more precise layout control, stronger visual hierarchy, and more consistent brand presentation across pages.

In short, you can now recreate cover-style designs with more flexibility and scalability.


What to do next?

  1. If you are happy with your existing cover page:

    1. You do not need to take action yet, as it will continue to work until 2027.

    2. If you want access to new layout capabilities, you can experiment with a document page in a separate environment.

      1. Need help managing your current cover page?

        Read: Cover pages

  2. If you are building a new homepage:

    1. Use a document page:

      1. It is the future-proof option, it supports multiple pages per guideline, it offers flexible sections and tabs, it includes reusable color schemes, it is indexed in global search.

      2. It continues to evolve.

    2. Building new homepages with document pages avoids future migration effort.



How to build a cover-style homepage with a document page

You can recreate the visual impact of a cover page using a document page, with more control and flexibility.

Step 1: create and position your page

  1. Create a new page.

  2. Set it to unpublished.

  3. Move it to the top of your navigation.

Step 2: configure page-specific settings

  1. Open layout and navigation settings.

  2. Select “this page” settings so changes apply only to this page.

  3. Hide the sidebar, page title, or last modified elements if needed.

Step 3: define your visual structure

  1. Create one or more color schemes to ensure consistent background styling.

  2. Adjust content area settings and section spacing to create a full-width experience.

Step 4: build your layout

  1. Use the enhanced cards grid block for image and text overlays.

  2. Adjust card ratios, alignment, and image behavior to match your desired layout.

  3. Apply text-on-image styles and section-level background controls for layered visual impact.

The enhanced cards grid block enables structured, brand-aligned designs without custom workarounds.


Strengths and limitations

Strengths

Limitations

Cover page

Simple setup
Short url

One page per guideline
Limited layout options
Basic blocks only
Not indexed in global search
No new features planned
Phased out in 2027

Document page

Multiple pages per guideline
Flexible layout structure
Sections and tabs
Reusable color schemes
Expanding block library
Custom content blocks
Indexed in global search
Actively improved

More initial setup required
Longer url structure
Templates are coming but not yet available


What’s next

  • Cover pages will not receive further updates and will be removed in 2027.

  • Document pages will continue to evolve.

    • Q1 updates include the enhanced cards grid block and improved show and hide document controls.

    • Page templates are planned next.


Final recommendation

Keep your existing cover page if it meets your needs today. Start exploring document pages if you want more flexibility or are planning a redesign. Build all new homepages with document pages to align with the future direction of Frontify.

This approach gives you stability today while setting you up for long-term flexibility.


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