WordPress Pagination Code for Posts

Last update: March 1st, 2021
Tested up to: WordPress 5.6.2

FUNCTIONALITY:

• This code will query and display WordPress posts with numeric pagination
• Works with any WordPress theme or child-theme
• Filters through posts, custom post types, categories, tags, authors etc. (general arguments array)
• Works on posts page (blog), standard pages and template based pages (such as archives or search results)
• Filters through WordPress pagination arguments array

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Copy and paste the code below into the WP template file you want to edit
• Tweak the code according to your needs

    <?php

    $currentPage = get_query_var('paged');


    // General arguments

    $posts = new WP_Query(array(
        'post_type' => 'post', // Default or custom post type
        'posts_per_page' => 10, // Max number of posts per page
        'category_name' => 'My category', // Your category (optional)
        'paged' => $currentPage
    ));


    // Top pagination (pagination arguments)

    echo "<div class='page-nav-container'>" . paginate_links(array(
        'total' => $posts->max_num_pages,
        'prev_text' => __('<'),
        'next_text' => __('>')
    )) . "</div>";


    // Content display

    if ($posts->have_posts()) :
        while ($posts->have_posts()) :
            $posts->the_post();
            echo "<div class='post-wrap'>";
            the_title();
            the_content();
            echo "</div>";
        endwhile;
    endif;


    // Bottom pagination (pagination arguments)

    echo "<div class='page-nav-container'>" . paginate_links(array(
        'total' => $posts->max_num_pages,
        'prev_text' => __('<'),
        'next_text' => __('>')
    )) . "</div>";

    ?>

Category pagination

In case you would like to use this code on your category or tag template to get category pagination, simply add the following line above the “general arguments” section:

$taxonomy = get_queried_object();

And inside “general arguments” section change

'category_name' => 'My category',

to

'category_name' => $taxonomy->slug,

(or in case of a tag template)

'tag' => $taxonomy->slug,

Search pagination

In case you would like to use this code on your search template to get search pagination, simply add the following line above the “general arguments” section:

$taxonomy = get_search_query();

And inside “general arguments” section change

'category_name' => 'My category',

to

's' => $taxonomy,

Mihovil Mikulec

Thank you for reading! I am owner of Soulstudio, WordPress developer with 10 years of experience behind me. My primary focus is on WordPress hosting, security and performance. You can contact me directly at [email protected]