As we’ve discussed in previous posts, in a default installation, WordPress treats your site as a ‘blog’ and displays your latest published entries on the front page, unless you set a specific page as a static front page.
In a previous tutorial, we have also shown you how to create a WordPress blog page to display your latest published posts.
Whether you choose to have your most recently published content display on your home page or your blog page, you can set a specific number of blog post entries to show up on these pages (e.g. ‘1’, ’6’, ’12’ etc.)
Your website will then display recently published posts on your blog page up to the maximum number of items you have specified, even if your web site contains more posts than the number of items you have set to display …
Having the ability to set the number of post items display on your web site has a number of uses.
For example, you can set your blog to display only the latest blog post you have published. This can be useful for example, if you want to promote a weekly special, a ’book of the month’ type of offer, publish the latest results of a local sports competition, post upcoming events, set up a weekly team page for updates and announcements, etc.
Or, you can use this feature to fill an ugly space on your blog if your sidebar menu runs too long …
Whatever the reason may be, With WordPress you have the flexibility to change the number of posts that you want to show on main blog page.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to set the number of blog posts you want to show on your WordPress blog.
Setting The Number Of Blog Post Entries Displayed On Your Blog
WordPress allows you to specify how many published blog posts you would like displayed on the blog page of your web site.
The number of blog posts you want displayed is entirely up to you. WordPress doesn’t limit this number …
Note: Pick a sensible setting that won’t slow down your page as the content loads on your site. You can always increase or decrease the number of items displayed.
To set the number of published posts you want to display on the blog page of your WP website, go to the WordPress navigation menu and select Settings > Reading …
Configure your settings in the Reading Settings section as per the screenshot below:
Modifying The Number Of Posts Displayed On Your Main Page
If you are using your WordPress site as a blog (i.e. the default WordPress option), where the main page displays your newest published post items, then set your options 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 items you want showing – e.g. ‘1’, ‘3’, ’10’, ’12’ etc.)
- Click the ‘Save’ button when finished…
How To Modify The Number Of Posts Showing On The Blog Page
If you are using your WP site as a website, where the main page displays a fixed page and your most recent 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 blog posts that you want to show – e.g. ‘1’, ‘3’, ’10’, ’15’ etc.)
- Click the ‘Save’ button when done …
Now, when visitors land on your site, they will see your most recent published articles 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 change the number of published posts you want to have displaying on your WordPress site’s blog page.
Related Posts
If you are a WordPress newbie, you may also find the following posts useful:
- How To Make A Page Of Your Choice Be The Home Page Of Your WP Site
- How To Create A Blog Section 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)