Frontend templates

Homepage

The homepage sets out the proposition of GOV.UK. It introduces the different kinds of content and information users can find, as well as the different tasks they can do.

How it works

The homepage is not exhaustive; it does not provide a link to every single part of the site. It prioritises the most relevant and important tasks and content for the highest number, or the most impacted users. It also exposes how the site is organised.

This provides multiple ways for the user to find what they need:

By showing what kind of content is on the site
By showing how the content is organised
By providing keywords (for example, topic names)
By allowing users to compare important content side-by-side

Live example

Welcome to GOV.UK

Page data available on Content Data.

How it's built

These are the underlying technologies that make-up the homepage front template.

Content schema

homepage

What is a content schema?

A GOV.UK content schema is a JSON schema that defines the data structure of a piece of content. It determines what content and metadata attributes the page has.

Content type

homepage

What is a content type?

Content type describes the types of pages that exist on GOV.UK. It’s stored in the content item (JSON) as document_type. It powers search filters in all finders and changes the content type label users see on GOV.UK pages.

Publishing app

special-route-publisher

What is a publishing app?

Publishing apps are used by publishers across government departments to publish content to GOV.UK.

Rendering app

frontend

What is a rendering app?

Rendering apps render content to GOV.UK end-users.

Components

The components used within the homepage frontend template
Component	Source	Publishing app input field(s)
Layout super navigation header	Hardcoded by developer
Search	Hardcoded by developer
Heading	Hardcoded by developer
Action link	Hardcoded by developer
Image card	Hardcoded by developer
Feedback	Hardcoded by developer
Layout footer	Hardcoded by developer

History and insights
Date	Description	Document
July 10, 2024	Information regarding the design update, taken place in November 2023	GOV.UK homepage (opens in a new tab)
July 17, 2023	Gameplan/lead-up to redesigning the homepage	What does user behaviour on the GOV.UK homepage look like (opens in a new tab)
April 28, 2023	Holistic redesign of the homepage	Homepage Redesign Challenge (opens in a new tab)

Help improve this frontend template

To help make sure that this page is useful, relevant and up to date, instructions on how to contribute can be found on the GitHub repository (opens in a new tab).