List WordPress posts by categories, authors, and tags: A comprehensive guide

WordPress list posts from category plugin

WordPress comes with some fantastic layouts for listing blog posts, such as the main blog page and category archives. But what if you want to list WordPress posts elsewhere on your website?

Maybe you want to list posts from a specific category? Perhaps you want to list WordPress posts by author, tag, or something else. Maybe you want to list other types of WordPress content such as pages or custom post types. Well, you've come to the right place!

I'm going to show you how to use Posts Table Pro to list blog posts or other information in a flexible table layout. This WordPress post list plugin lets you choose which columns to include in the table. You can also choose which posts to list based on their category, tag, date, author and more. And even better - it all happens automatically. It's time to stop listing posts manually by hand! 

Case study #1 - How we listed tutorials on our own website

First off, I'll tell you that I created this post to 'scratch my own itch'. Previously, I've been wasting time by manually listing the tutorials for each of our WordPress plugins in our knowledge base. Every time I'd publish a post about how to use one of our plugins, I'd edit the relevant article in the knowledge base and manually add it to the list. Lots of people do this, but it was particularly stupid for me because here at Barn2, we have a WordPress post list plugin to fix exactly this problem!

As a result, I spent about 10 minutes today using Posts Table Pro to replace the manual lists of posts in 5 articles from our knowledge base. It literally only took 10 minutes to list WordPress posts in 5 separate tables because Posts Table Pro does it all for you.

See it in action on our list of Posts Table Pro tutorials here!

Below, I will share exactly how I did. Then you can put it into practice and use the same method to list WordPress posts on your own website based on their category, tag, or whatever you like.

But first I'll share another case study of how one our plugin customers achieved the same on their own website.

Case study #2 - Journey with Omraam blog post index

WordPress post index page plugin

Journey with Omraam is a global community that continues to spread the teachings of the spiritual master Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov.

The website is regularly updated with fresh content. All posts have been added to the Search All Posts page as a list of WordPress posts, and there are many, many posts – more than 700. So an easy way to sort through the list of posts was essential, that's exactly why our WordPress post list plugin powers the page.

Each and every blog post is listed in the table along with its title, first line of the post, author and date it was published. Visitors can browse the content in three ways. They can sort the table by the column headers. They could filter the list by selecting a category. Or, they can use the keyword search box. Either way will quickly help them find what they're looking for.

Read on to find out how you, too, can list WordPress posts on your website.

Introducing Posts Table Pro - a plugin to list WordPress posts, pages & other content

Dynamic WordPress table plugin Posts Table Pro

As you can see, there are lots of ways to display posts using different content views - whether this is a post grid or list for WordPress. The Posts Table Pro plugin creates a grid-based table layout, with each post listed as a separate row in the table. This builds on the content views that come with WordPress and your theme.

Posts Table Pro lets you list WordPress posts or other content types such as normal pages or any custom post type. You can use it to list literally any post type on your website, including portfolios, documents, products, events, articles, news, tutorials, etc.

Once you've decided what type of content to list using this WordPress plugin, there are lots of ways to choose what type of WordPress posts to display. Here's a summary of them all. Afterwards, I'll tell you how to set it up.

List all posts in a table

At its very simplest, you can use Posts Table Pro to list all posts in a table layout. The optional lazy load setting ensures fast load times, even if you're listing hundreds or many thousands of posts.

You can either list the post names only, in a one-column table. Alternatively, you can add extra columns to show information such as content, excerpt, featured image, author, or date.

List posts by category

You can list WordPress posts by category, listing content from one or more specific categories. Simply enter the name or ID of the category you wish to list the posts from.

This is a great option if you want to list posts from a particular category outside of the category archive pages that come with WordPress itself. Check out our separate article on how to list category posts.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

Display posts with a specific tag

As well as category, you can list WordPress posts by tag. Create a table containing posts that are tagged with 1 or more specific terms.

For example, if you have a WordPress recipe blog for foodies, then you can create tables listing posts that are tagged with 'healthy' or 'vegan'.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

List WordPress posts by author

It's also possible to list WP posts by author - for example, if you want to create different lists of posts based on the user who created them. This is useful if you want to list posts by a specific author outside of the built-in author archive pages.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

Create a date-based list of posts by month, year or day

List WP posts by month, year, day, or any combination of these date options. This adds more flexibility than simply using the date archives that come with WordPress itself.

You don't just have to list all your posts in reverse date order. Instead, you can create separate pages listing posts from a specific day or month. This is ideal for blogs that post regularly, WordPress newspaper websites, and similar sites.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

List WP posts by ID

For even more fine-grained control, the plugin lets you list pages or posts based on their specific database ID. For example, this might be useful if you want to manually add a list of related posts to a WordPress blog post. Use the ID of each post to hand pick which related posts to include in the table, and add them anywhere within your post.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

List posts by custom field or taxonomy

If that's not enough, you can also use custom fields or a custom taxonomy to list posts in even more weird and wonderful ways!

Custom fields and taxonomies are a wonderful way of extending the information that you store about your WordPress posts and other content. If you feel the fields that come with WordPress itself don't quite your needs, just use a free plugin to create custom fields and/or taxonomies. You can then use the Posts Table Pro plugin to list posts based on specific data.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

List posts, pages or any custom post type

Posts Table Pro can list any type of post in WordPress, including custom post types. This is useful if you need to list something other than blog posts. For example, you might be creating lists of events, documents, portfolio projects, products, or something else.

We've got a separate tutorial on how to list WordPress custom post types in a table.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

Exclude posts from the list by ID or category

There are also exclude and exclude category options, which are handy if you need to exclude specific posts from the list. I'm always surprised at how often I list posts and then realise that there are a couple that I want to exclude. This is sometimes easier than choosing which posts to include, depending on how many you want to hide.

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

List posts anywhere in WordPress

You can choose whether to list WordPress posts on a page, in a blog post, or to automatically use the table layout in your category archive template or in the WordPress search results page. This makes Posts Table Pro incredibly flexible. You simply add a shortcode anywhere on your site, edit it to state what you want to include, and it will appear automatically on the front end. 

READ INSTRUCTIONS →

What else can it do?

As well as providing flexibility in which WordPress posts or other content to list, the plugin lets you choose which columns to include in the post list table.

Some people use Posts Table Pro to create a very simple list of WordPress posts. If this is what you want, then you can create a table that just has a title column listing the post name. Others use it to add extra information, which helps to encourage people to click on the posts and read more. For example, you can list posts with their featured image, plus other post data such as title, content, excerpt, author, date, etc. If you've added custom fields or taxonomies to your WordPress post list then you can include those too.

Posts Table Pro also makes it easier for people to find posts based on data such as category, tag or author. Each column in the table is sortable, and you can add extra controls such as search box and filters. You can allow customers to filter by post tag, category, or any custom taxonomies you've created such as Topic or Year.

You can also control the order in which posts are listed. For example, you can list WordPress posts alphabetically or in date order. This is much more flexible than the default post list on the main blog page.

Feel free to check out the full list of plugin options here. I've just focussed on the main ones for creating a WordPress posts list.

How to list WordPress posts on a page with Posts Table Pro

To learn how to create a WordPress post list table for your own website, either watch this video tutorial or read the written instructions below:

  1. Before you start, you should have a WordPress website already set up with various posts that you want to list.
  2. Get the Posts Table Pro plugin and install it on your website.
  3. Download the zip file from the link in your order confirmation email and upload it to your WordPress admin by going to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, then click Activate. The Posts Table Pro setup wizard will then initiate automatically.
  4. Upon installation, the automatic setup wizard will guide you in creating your first table or you can create new tables anytime via Post Tables → Add New.
  5. Give your table a name and select the post type to display.
  6. Select the posts or pages to include in the table, and customize columns and order by dragging and dropping or adding new columns. For instance, you can add columns for categories, tags, post dates, and authors.
  7. Add filters. You can add as many as you like. Filters will appear as a dropdown above your table.
  8. Enable lazy loading for better performance with large tables.
  9. Next, choose the default sorting option and direction.
  10. Next, go to the page where you want to list WordPress posts, pages, or other content. (Note: This can be an existing page or a new page. It doesn't matter if the page uses the standard WordPress editor or a page builder plugin such as Visual Composer. If you don't want to list posts on a page, you can use a post or widget instead.)
  11. After completing the table using Post Table Pro, you can display it on your WordPress site by using the 'Post Table' block in the Gutenberg editor or copying the shortcode from the table builder and pasting it anywhere on your site. This offers you the flexibility to place the table on any page.

And this is how my WordPress post list table looks on the front end:

List WordPress posts plugin

Take action: List WordPress posts with Post Table Pro today 🚀

By now, you should have all the information you need to start automatically listing posts and pages on your own website. Whether you want to list posts by category, author, date, or anything else, you can do it with Posts Table Pro.

Get Posts Table Pro today and stop wasting time writing manual lists straight away!

2 Comments

    • Hi, Mino. Thanks for saying so. Let me know if you have any questions. You can also enquire in more detail via our dedicated Support Center. Thanks!

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