Back to Posts Page from a Post that belongs to page 2. Load page 1 or 2?

Question

I have a Portfolio website where Single Posts (an image and a description) load from the front page dynamically and the Browser address updates.

In the front page (or index) I have first 20 posts and pagination to next pages (Page 2, Page 3, etc.). From the front when the user clicks a Post the page loads its Single Post page in a Modal view.

I would like to implement this the other way:

If the user accesses the Single Post it will appear in a Modal view. If this modal is closed, then the front page loads dynamically (as if it was there in the first place).

If the user accesses directly a Single Post which belongs to Page 2 (no previous history), should closing it load front Page 2 or front Page 1?

There is a transition when the Modal view closes which relates where the Single post is in the front page. Something "similar" to how apps are minimized in OSX.

My main doubt is that as the post is loaded in a Modal window, I feel there should be some relation between it and the main page.

Answer 1

I think you should change the wording of the close button to reflect the use case. Shadow boxing is still good because it makes the user want to see more of your work, but the actions are much more explicit.

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Answer 2

I think you should show index page 1. Reason being--

According to you he has no previous history so it is always better to show the newest posts(assuminf page 1 contains newest posts).

Answer 3

Whatever is the development functionality you want to use, the user expects to see on the page the content was there until he opened the modal. For me seems logical to display page 2 and more, the exact position of the page before the modal was opened.