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

In a separate article, we also discussed how to create a WordPress blog page to show your most recent published posts.

Regardless of your choice to have recently published blog post entries display on your main page or your blog page, With WordPress you can specify the number of items to show up on these pages (i.e. ‘1’, ’7’, ’10’ etc.)

Your website will then display your most recent published articles on your blog page up to the maximum number of items you have specified, even if your WordPress website or blog contains more blog posts than the number set to display …

The ability to specify how many entries will display on your web site has a number of practical applications.

For example, you can display only the latest post item you have published. This is useful for example, if you are promoting 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 weekly office page for announcements, etc.

You can also use this feature to fill an empty space on your blog if your sidebar menu runs too long …

Whatever the reason, With WordPress you have the flexibility to change the number of posts to display on main blog page.

Let’s show you, then, how easy it is to specify the number of posts will show on your blog.

Specifying The Number Of Post Entries Displayed On Your Blog Page

WordPress lets you specify how many posts you would like to show on the blog page.

How many entries you want 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 increase or decrease the number of items displayed on your blog page.

To specify the number of posts you would like listed on the blog page of your site, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Settings > Reading …

Configure your settings in the Reading Settings section as per the screenshot below:

Modifying The Number Of Posts On The Main Page

If you are using your WP site as a blog (i.e. the default installation option), where the home page shows your most recent post entries, then set your options as described below:

1. Front page displays: Set this to Your latest posts
2. Blog pages show at most: X posts (where ‘X’ is the number of blog post items you want to display – e.g. ‘1’, ’5’, ‘7’, ’12’ etc.)
3. Click the ‘Save’ button when done…

To Edit The Number Of Posts Showing On The Blog Page

If you are using your WP site as a website, where the home page is a fixed page and your latest blog posts show up on a separate blog page, then edit your settings as shown below:

1. Front page displays: Set this to A static page, then select Posts page: > your Blog Page from the drop down menu
2. Blog pages show at most: X posts X posts (where ‘X’ is the number of post entries that you want to show – i.e. ‘1’, ‘3’, ‘7’, ’12’ etc.)
3. Click on Save Changes when finished …

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:

• How To Use WordPress Post Excerpts And Post Previews

Congratulations! Now you know how to set the number of blog posts you would like listed on your WordPress site’s blog page.

Related Posts

If you are learning how to use WordPress, you may also find the following topic-related posts useful:

• How To Show Any Page As Your Home Page In WordPress
• How To Create A Blog Page In WordPress

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