How to create a searchable WordPress Post Table for your blog

WordPress post table blog index

'If you run a successful WordPress blog – or are planning on building one – chances are you post a lot of content. While dedicated readers may check out every new article as soon as it's live, you’ll want a way to draw everyone's attention to the posts you want them to see.

A WordPress post table is the perfect way to do just that. It enables you to list some or all of your blog posts in an attractive, organized tabular grid format.

You can provide key information about each article to encourage clicks. You can make it easy for readers to search and filter the table for specific content.

In this guide, we’ll explain exactly what a WordPress posts table is and what you can do with it. Then we’ll show you how to set one up easily, using the Posts Table Pro plugin. Let’s get right to it!

What a WordPress post table is (and why it’s so useful)

Most blogs rely on search fields and sidebar menus to help readers find the posts they’re looking for. These features are a good start, of course. However, they often require visitors to sort through pages of search results or complex archives. This isn't a good way for readers to find information about a particular topic.

A WordPress post table plugin provides a better way to organize and display your blog posts:

A Posts Table Pro demo.

As you can see, this is an organized list of blog posts presented in a table format. A post table provides a lot of key benefits. For instance, you can:

  • Display all your posts, one or more specific categories, or a carefully curated collection.
  • Choose exactly what information will appear in the table, so you can peak visitors’ interest effectively.
  • Enable readers to search through, sort and filter the table at will, in order to find what they want quickly.

What’s more, a WordPress post table plugin offers an attractive way to show off your content. It doesn't even need to take the place of any other part your blog, since you can add it to any page. Instead, you can use it as an additional way to navigate your blog, like a WordPress post index.

Let’s look at how to create a table of blog posts for your own WordPress site.

Case study - WordPress post table for Journey with Omraam blog

WordPress post index page plugin

The inspiration for our Posts Table Pro plugin originally came from one of our web design clients, Journey with Omraam. They wanted a WordPress post table to use as an index for their growing blog.

The solution was a table layout allowing users to search and sort all their blog posts. The post table includes various information to encourage users to click through to read each post. There are columns for post title, content, publish date, author and a filterable list of categories. The search box above the table lets users search for blog posts with any keyword.

See the Journey with Omraam post index in action.

As you can see, adding a post table made Journey with Omraam's blog much more user-friendly. Next, I'll share how you can make your own blog easier to navigate too.

How to create a compelling WordPress posts table for your blog (in 3 steps)

WordPress is a powerful platform, which enables even complete beginners do many things easily. Unfortunately, creating a fully-featured table of any sort is not one of them. While you could put together a table by hand using code or a manual entry table plugin, the result is likely to be underwhelming. It would also take you a lot of time, as you'd have to add each blog post to the table by hand.

Instead, let me introduce you to the Posts Table Pro plugin:

This dynamic table plugin helps you build an attractive and feature-rich WordPress post table in minutes. Your blog posts are automatically displayed in a searchable table layout with filters - no manual data entry. Plus, you can customize your posts table to look and work just the way you want.

In the following walkthrough, I'll show you how to use this WordPress plugin, and offer some tips for creating the perfect posts table.

Check out the Posts Table Pro demo!

Step 1: Install and activate Posts Table Pro

The very first thing you’ll need to do (if you haven’t already) is purchase the Posts Table Pro plugin.

When you do this, you’ll be provided with a few things. The most important will be a zipped folder containing the plugin itself, and a license key for activating it. Make sure you save both somewhere safe.

Upload the plugin to your WordPress admin by going to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, selecting the zip file, and activating it. The setup wizard will then guide you in a step-by-step process to create your first table.

Activating the Posts Table Pro plugin.

Step 2: Configure your WordPress post table settings

Technically, you could skip this step and jump straight to adding a WordPress posts table to your site. This would generate a table using the plugin’s default settings. However, you’ll probably want to customize your post table at least a little, to better match your vision.

Upon the plugin's initial installation, an automatic setup wizard will launch, providing a step-by-step guide to creating your first table. After creating the table, you can customize its appearance. Additionally, you have the option to generate new tables anytime by going to Post Tables → Add New.

Select an exclusive name for the table that will only be used internally and appear on the list of tables in the WordPress admin. Afterward, select the post type you wish to showcase. If you haven't created a content type yet, you can quickly generate one using the free Easy Post Types and Fields plugin.

Choose what type of content to display

Customize columns in WordPress table plugin

This is a vital setting since it’s what lets you customize which information appears in your post table. You can add a column by choosing the type of column from the dropdown menu and clicking 'Add'. The added columns appear in the list of columns above, and you can reorder them by dragging and dropping the sort icon on the left or the column title.

You’ll find a list of all the column options in the Posts Table Pro documentation. At the least, we’d suggest displaying each post’s title, category, date, and featured image. You may also want to include the name of the author, as well as either the content or excerpt column (although using both might be confusing to readers).

Customize search and filter settings

WordPress table builder plugin with filters

You can incorporate filters into your table to assist users in refining their selections. Keep your target audience in mind while considering which filters would be most beneficial. Filters appear as dropdown menus above the table, and you can add as many as you require.

The filter options available are determined by the post type selected on the first page. For example, typical blog posts can be filtered by categories and tags, in addition to any custom taxonomies added.

Choose how to sort the table

Change sort order WordPress table

You have the ability to personalize the sorting options for your table by selecting the default sorting option and sort direction. This gives you control over the sequence in which the table is presented to your users.

Step 3: Add your WordPress post table to a page

It’s finally time to add a WordPress post table to your website. Technically, you can place it on any page, post, or custom post type. However, we recommend using a brand new page, so your table will be front and center. Alternatively, you may want to embed it on your home page.

Upon completing the creation of your table with the Post Table Pro plugin, the setup wizard will verify that you have finished and furnish you with directions for presenting the table on your WordPress site. You have two options for showcasing the table:

  • 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 gives you the flexibility to position the table on any page, regardless of its content.

Here's an example of what your table layout might look like:

An example of a WordPress post table.

You’ll see your WordPress posts table, configured using all the settings you chose in the previous step. If there’s anything you want to modify, you can go back to the settings page and do so. Any changes you save will automatically be applied to your table via the shortcode, so you won’t have to recreate it.

That’s it! Your WordPress post table is fully functional and ready to go. Now, all you have to do is make sure it’s prominently placed and/or linked to your blog, so readers can start benefiting from it right away.

Where to get the plugin

Once you have a lot of content on your blog, you’ll probably start wondering if there are better ways to organize and display it. A WordPress post table is one of the best ways to make a blog easier to navigate. It’s simple to set up, yet robust when it comes to functionality.

As we’ve shown, the Posts Table Pro plugin makes showing off your content this way easy. All you have to do is:

  1. Install and activate Posts Table Pro.
  2. Configure your WordPress post table settings.
  3. Add your WordPress posts table to a page.

Do you have any questions about how to configure your WordPress post table? Ask us anything in the comments section below!

Image credit: pxhere.

4 Comments

  1. The plugin settings are global. Wouldn't it be better to instead use the settings wizard to generate the full explicit shortcode?

    • Hi Mike, the global settings affect the default [posts_table] shortcode. These can be overridden by adding extra parameters to the shortcode. The various shortcode options that come with the plugin are documented here. This is a good way to create multiple tables for your site, each one different.

  2. This is not working. I have tried multiple times to create the table but it does not work

    • Sorry to hear it's not working for you. First, have you installed the Posts Table Pro plugin as the shortcodes will only work when you have installed the plugin.

      If you have installed the plugin and are just seeing a shortcode on the page, then it means your license key is not active. Here's a link to the instructions for fixing this.

      If the above doesn't help, please send me your WordPress logins and I'll be happy to get it working for you. I will also send you this advice by email in case you don't see this comment.

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