As we’ve discussed in other posts, by default, WordPress treats your site as a ‘blog’ and displays your most recent posts on the front page, unless you set a specific page as a static main page.

In a previous post, we also discuss how to create a blog page to display your latest post.
Whether you choose to have your blog posts on your home page or your blog page, With WordPress you can specify the number of blog posts to display on these pages (i.e. ‘1’, ’6’, ’12’ etc.)
Your WP site will then display blog posts on your blog page up to the maximum number of posts you have set, even if your WordPress website or blog contains more blog posts than the number of posts set to display …

Being able to set how many blog post items display on your WordPress site can be useful.
For example, you can set your blog to display only the latest post that you have published. This can be useful for example, if you want to send your readers to a different expiring offer each week, a ‘deal of the day’ type of offer, publish the latest results of your sports team, post an upcoming event, set up a monthly team page for announcements, etc.
Or, you can use this feature to fill an ugly space on your blog page if your sidebar menu is too long …

Whatever the reason, WordPress gives you the flexibility to specify the number of posts to show on main blog page.
Let’s show you, then, how easy it is to set how many posts you want to show on your blog.
Setting The Number Of Blog Posts To Display On Your Blog
Through its content management system (CMS), WordPress allows you to specify how many published blog post entries you want to have showing on the blog page of your web site.
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The number of blog posts you would like displayed is entirely up to you. there is no limit to this amount …

Note: Choose a sensible setting that won’t overload your page as the entries load on your site. You can always raise or lower the amount of posts displayed.
To set the number of blog post entries you want to have displaying on your site’s blog page site, select Settings > Reading from your WordPress dashboard menu …

Configure your options in the Reading Settings panel as shown in the screenshot below:
How To Edit The Number Of Posts On Your Home Page
If you are using your WordPress site as a blog (i.e. the default installation option), where the main page displays your latest post entries, then edit your settings 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 entries you want showing – i.e. ‘1’, ’5’, ‘7’, ’15’ etc.)
- Click on Save Changes when done…

To Edit The Number Of Posts Displayed On The Blog Page
If you are using your WordPress site as a website, where the home page displays a fixed page and your latest published entries show up 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 posts you want showing – e.g. ‘1’, ’5’, ‘7’, ’12’ etc.)
- Click the ‘Save’ button when done …

Now, when visitors land on your website, they will see your newest blog posts showing either on your main page or blog page, up to the maximum number of posts you have specified …

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To learn how to change the length of your post excerpts, see the tutorial below:
Congratulations! Now you know how to change the number of published blog posts you would like to have showing on your WordPress site’s blog page.
Related Posts
If you are a WordPress newbie, you may also find the following topic-related posts useful:
- How To Make Any Page Of Your Choice Become The Home Page Of Your WP Site
- How To Create A Blog In WordPress
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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)