If you frequent online forums, then you should already be familiar with the concept of featured or “sticky” posts.
In a sticky post, the item does not get replaced by newer entries while older threads get pushed lower down the screen.
Like online forums, WordPress allows you to display important blog posts at the top of your blog post page and the newer posts show below the pinned item and older items get pushed further down the page.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to make posts sticky.
Before going through this tutorial, you should already be familiar with basic features of WordPress like:
- Knowing the difference between Posts and Pages
- How to create blog posts in WordPress
- How to edit a post
- Using the WordPress Quick Edit function
- Creating a post page in WordPress
- How to set the number of posts to display on your blog post page
Sticky Posts
In WordPress, posts generally are shown at the top of your blog page in reverse chronological order …
(Latest posts get added to the top of your blog summary page while older posts get pushed further down)
Depending on how many posts your site is set up to display on your blog page, as newer posts are published, older posts will get pushed down the page.
In WordPress, you can set some of your posts as Sticky if you would like your readers to read these before all other posts. Sticky posts will stay pinned above all other posts until you uncheck the ‘Sticky’ option on the Edit screen for that particular post.
To make your post sticky, follow the steps below:
In your Dashboard menu, select Posts > All Posts …
(WordPress Posts Menu – All Posts)
This brings up the Posts screen, which displays all your posts …
(Table Of Posts)
There are two methods to make your posts sticky:
Featured Posts - Quick Edit Method
Locate the item you would like to edit, hover your mouse over the post title to view the options menu and click on the ‘Quick Edit’ link …
(Click on the ‘Quick Edit’ link)
The Quick Edit inline editor displays several options for editing your post. Find the ‘Make this post sticky’ option …
(Quick Edit settings – ‘Make this post sticky’)
Select the Make this post sticky checkbox …
(Quick Edit - Make this post sticky checkbox)
Update your settings …
(Click the ‘Update’ button to save your new settings)
Making WordPress Posts Sticky - Post Edit Method
If you are adding a new blog post or editing content in an existing entry, you can make the post sticky by clicking on Publish > Visibility: Public > Edit …
(Publish box – Visibility > Edit)
Select ‘Stick this post to the front page’, click OK, and remember to update your changes when finished …
(Publishing box)
Your Table of Posts will now show your blog post status as “Sticky” …
(Sticky post)
Visitors will see the sticky post at the top of the page, followed by your most recent posts …
(Featured posts get displayed at the top of your blog posts summary page and other regular entries get pushed down the page)
Depending on your WordPress theme, your sticky post can also display to your blog readers differently than your other posts.
For example, your sticky post could have a distinctive label or highlight color …
(Featured posts can stand out from other posts)
Here’s the same sticky post with another WordPress theme installed …
(Featured posts can stand out from other posts)
Your blog post will stay sticky for as long as you want.
Unsticking Blog Posts In WordPress
Unsticking a WordPress post is as simple as reversing the process used to make your posts sticky.
To unstick a post, navigate to your Table of Posts and click on the ‘Sticky’ link at the top of the list of posts to return all entries assigned a sticky status …
(Posts section – Sticky menu)
Hover your mouse over the post title to display the options menu and click on Quick Edit …
(’Quick Edit’ link)
Deselect the ‘Make this post sticky’ checkbox and click the ‘Update’ button to save your new settings …
(Deselect the box to unstick the post inside the Quick Edit function)
Alternatively, when editing an existing post, you can unstick your post by going to Publish > Visibility: Public > Edit …
(Post publish box – Visibility > Edit)
Deselect ‘Stick this post to the front page’ then click OK and remember to click Update to save your new changes …
(Publishing box)
Your post will no longer be sticky and will behave like all of your other posts.
Congratulations! Now you know how to make your WP post sticky.
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum