As we’ve discussed in previous posts, in a default installation, WordPress treats your site as a ‘blog’ and shows your newest posts on the front page, unless you fix a page as a static front page.
In a previous tutorial, we also discuss how to create a blog page to show your most recent blog posts.
Whether you choose to have blog post entries on your main page or your blog page, With WordPress you can specify the number of items to appear on these pages (e.g. ‘1’, ’5’, ’12’ etc.)
Your website will then display your blog posts on your blog page up to the maximum number of items you have set, even if your website contains more posts than the number set to display …
The ability to set how many entries can display on your site can be useful.
For example, you can display only the latest single blog post you have published. This can be useful for example, if you want to send your readers to a different time-sensitive offer each month, a ’book of the month’ type of offer, publish the latest results of a local sports competition, post an upcoming event, set up a quarterly corporate page for announcements, etc.
You can also use this great feature to fill an ugly space on your blog page if your sidebar menu is too long …
Whatever the reason may be, With WordPress you have the flexibility to set the number of posts that will show on main blog page.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily change how many posts will show on your site’s blog page.
Changing The Number Of Blog Post Entries To Display On Your WordPress Blog Page
WordPress lets you choose how many published blog post entries you would like to show on the blog page of your web site.
The number of posts you want displayed is completely up to you. there is no limit to this amount …
Note: Select a sensible setting that won’t slow down your page as the entries load on your site. You can always increase or decrease the amount of posts displayed on your blog page.
To set the number of blog posts you would like to have showing on the blog page of your web site, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Settings > Reading …
Configure your settings in the Reading Settings page as per the screenshot below:
How To Change The Number Of Posts On Your Main Page
If you are using your WP site as a blog (i.e. the default WordPress option), where the front page shows your newest post entries, then edit your settings as described below:
- Front page displays: Set this to Your latest posts
- Blog pages show at most: X posts (where ‘X’ is the number of post entries you want showing – i.e. ‘1’, ’5’, ’10’, ’12’ etc.)
- Click on Save Changes when done to update your settings…
Editing The Number Of Posts Showing On The Blog Page
If you are using your WP site as a website, where the front page displays a fixed page and your most recent published post entries display on a separate blog page, then set your options 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 blog post items you want displayed – e.g. ‘1’, ‘3’, ‘7’, ’12’ etc.)
- Click the ‘Save’ button when finished to update your settings …
Now, when visitors come to your site, they will see your most recently published post entries displayed either on your home page or blog page, as per the settings 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 published posts you would like to have displaying on the blog page of your website.
Related Posts
If you are new to WordPress, you may also find the following posts useful:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now