The order of Pages in WordPress is especially important because in many themes, Pages are used by default as the top menu items. Of course you don’t have to use Pages as your menu items, but for many sites it makes sense to do so. You may also want a menu of Pages in your sidebar.

By default, Pages in WordPress are ordered alphabetically. And that may be fine for some, but many may want to order their Pages differently.

In this post, we’re going to look at how you can change the order to your preference.

How To Order Pages

First, you will want to navigate to the Pages section of the WordPress dashboard.

WordPress dashboard pages
WordPress dashboard pages menu.

Hover over any page to bring up the quick menu, and select Quick Edit.

By default, all Pages are set to zero (0). Because they’re all set to the same number, their order is determined alphabetically. You can change the order of posts however, by changing the Order number. Per standard ordinal numbering, the lowest numbers appear first.

Pages quick edit menu, allows page order by number assignment
Pages quick edit menu, allows page order by number assignment.

Alternately, you can change the order of Pages by manually moving them, from the Appearance > Menus section of the dashboard. Just drag & drop the pages to the desired place in the hierarchy, making sure to click the Save button when you’re done.

Page order through Appearance Menu settings
Order pages through Appearance Menu settings.

Once you’ve arranged your Pages in the order that you like, check out a Preview of your site to see it reflected on the front end.

Site preview reordered pages
Site preview with reordered pages.

And there you have it. Quick, easy, and made to order. 🙂

Editor’s Note: This post has been updated for accuracy and relevancy.
[Originally Published: 2012 / Revised: March 2022]

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