Need post excerpts on feature page

[cgspnb 0]

Greetings I need to display excerpts of the last 5 blog posts on a feature home page. I created a new page template based on the Feature page standard template. It is identical to the original except it includes a new template based on template_posts that includes a new file called posts_home.php based on the original posts.php http://michaelsantos.net/test/ However it is saying that there is nothing there. There are lots of posts however.The same code has no problems displaying the posts correctly at http://michaelsantos.net/test/?page_id=4389 I have tried using the default posts.php file but I am getting the same results on the home page. Is there some other function related to the home page that is nullifying

<?php if (!is_404() && have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?> 

Any assistance is appreciated!

[kastelic 6]

This is pretty advanced stuff so I've marked it for the developers.

[Andrew 207]

You can only use the `have_posts()` stuff on the posts page; WordPress controls when and where it can be used. In this case, you should use `get_posts` or a Query and loop through the responses with a `foreach`