As we’ve discussed in other posts, by default, WordPress treats your site as a ‘blog’ and displays your latest post entries on the home page, unless you specify a page as the main page.
In a previously published post, we’ve also explained how to create a blog page to show your latest blog post entries.
Whether you choose to make your most recent published articles on your main page or your blog page, you can specify the number of blog posts to display on these pages (e.g. ’2’, ’5’, ‘9’ etc.)
Your website will then display your newest blog posts on your blog page up to the maximum number of blog post entries you have specified, even if your website or blog contains more blog posts than the number you have set to display …
Having the ability to set how many post items can display on your web site has a number of uses.
For example, you can set your blog to display only the latest single post item that you have published. This is handy, if, for example, you want to send your readers to a weekly special, a ‘deal of the day’ type of offer, publish the latest results of a local sports competition, post an upcoming event, set up a quarterly social page for updates and announcements, etc.
Or, you can use this feature to fill an empty space on your blog if your sidebar menu is too long …
Whatever the reason, WordPress gives you the flexibility to set the number of blog posts to show on your blog page.
Let’s show you, then, how to set how many posts to show up on your blog.
Setting The Number Of Blog Post Entries Displayed On Your WordPress Blog
Through its content management system (CMS), WordPress lets you specify how many published blog post entries you want to show on your site’s blog page.
The number of entries you would like to display is entirely up to you. WordPress doesn’t limit this amount …
Note: Choose a sensible setting that won’t slow down your page as the entries load on your site. You can always raise or lower the amount of posts displayed on your blog page.
To set how many posts you want displayed on the blog page of your WP website, choose Settings > Reading from the WordPress dashboard menu …
Configure the options in the Reading Settings page as per the screenshot below:
Editing The Number Of Posts On The Home Page
If you are using your site as a blog (i.e. the default installation option), where the front page displays your most recent posts, then set your options as shown below:
- Front page displays: Set this to Your latest posts
- Blog pages show at most: X posts (where ‘X’ is the number of blog post items that you want to show – e.g. ‘1’, ’5’, ’10’, ’12’ etc.)
- Click on Save Changes when done…
How To Change The Number Of Posts Displayed On Your Blog Page
If you are using your WordPress site as a website, where the front page displays a fixed page and your latest posts show up on a separate blog page, then edit your settings as described below:
- Front page displays: Set this to A static page, then select Posts page: > your Blog Page from the drop down menu
- Blog pages show at most: X posts X posts (where ‘X’ is the number of posts you want to display – e.g. ‘1’, ’5’, ‘7’, ’15’ etc.)
- Click on Save Changes when done …
Now, when visitors come to your website, they will see recently published articles displayed either on your front page or blog page, up to the maximum number of posts you have specified …
To learn how to change the length of your post excerpts, see the tutorial below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to set the amount of blog posts you want displayed on your WP website’s blog page.
Related Posts
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)