Pagination with custom queries in Wordpress - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Pagination with custom queries

Start: User visits page

↓

Set current page number

↓

Create custom query with page number

↓

Run query to get posts

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Display posts for current page

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Show pagination links

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User clicks next/prev page

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Set current page number

This flow shows how WordPress uses a custom query with a page number to fetch and display posts, then shows pagination links to navigate pages.

Execution Sample

Wordpress

<?php
$paged = get_query_var('paged') ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
$args = ['post_type' => 'post', 'paged' => $paged, 'posts_per_page' => 2];
$query = new WP_Query($args);
while ($query->have_posts()) { $query->the_post(); the_title(); }
?>

This code gets the current page number, runs a custom query for posts with pagination, and displays post titles.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Paged Value	Query Args	Posts Retrieved	Output
1	Get current page number	1	N/A	N/A	paged = 1
2	Create query args	1	{post_type: 'post', paged: 1, posts_per_page: 2}	N/A	Args ready
3	Run WP_Query	1	{post_type: 'post', paged: 1, posts_per_page: 2}	Posts 1 & 2	Posts 1 & 2 titles shown
4	Display pagination links	1	N/A	N/A	Links: Prev (disabled), Next (page 2)
5	User clicks Next	2	N/A	N/A	paged updated to 2
6	Create query args	2	{post_type: 'post', paged: 2, posts_per_page: 2}	N/A	Args ready
7	Run WP_Query	2	{post_type: 'post', paged: 2, posts_per_page: 2}	Posts 3 & 4	Posts 3 & 4 titles shown
8	Display pagination links	2	N/A	N/A	Links: Prev (page 1), Next (page 3)
9	User clicks Next	3	N/A	N/A	paged updated to 3
10	Create query args	3	{post_type: 'post', paged: 3, posts_per_page: 2}	N/A	Args ready
11	Run WP_Query	3	{post_type: 'post', paged: 3, posts_per_page: 2}	Post 5 only	Post 5 title shown
12	Display pagination links	3	N/A	N/A	Links: Prev (page 2), Next (disabled)
13	User clicks Next	4	N/A	N/A	No posts, end reached
14	Exit	4	N/A	None	No posts to show, pagination ends

💡 Paged 4 has no posts, so pagination stops.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 1	After Step 5	After Step 9	After Step 13
paged	N/A	1	2	3	4
query args	N/A	{post_type:'post',paged:1,posts_per_page:2}	{post_type:'post',paged:2,posts_per_page:2}	{post_type:'post',paged:3,posts_per_page:2}	{post_type:'post',paged:4,posts_per_page:2}
posts retrieved	N/A	Posts 1 & 2	Posts 3 & 4	Post 5	None

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the 'paged' variable start at 1 and not 0?

Because WordPress pagination pages start counting from 1, not 0. See execution_table step 1 where paged is set to 1.

What happens when the user clicks 'Next' on the last page?

No posts are retrieved and pagination stops. See execution_table steps 13 and 14 where paged is 4 but no posts exist.

Why do we pass 'paged' in the query args?

To tell WP_Query which page of posts to fetch. Without it, the query always returns the first page. See execution_table steps 2, 6, and 10.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table at step 3. What posts are retrieved?

A Posts 3 & 4

B Posts 1 & 2

C Post 5 only

D No posts

💡 Hint

Check the 'Posts Retrieved' column at step 3 in execution_table.

At which step does the 'paged' variable change from 2 to 3?

A Step 5

B Step 13

C Step 9

D Step 1

💡 Hint

Look at variable_tracker for 'paged' values after steps.

If 'posts_per_page' was changed to 3, how would the posts retrieved at step 3 change?

A Posts 1, 2, and 3

B Posts 1 & 2 only

C Posts 3 & 4

D No posts

💡 Hint

Posts retrieved depend on 'posts_per_page' in query args at step 3.

Concept Snapshot

Pagination with custom queries in WordPress:
- Use get_query_var('paged') to get current page (default 1).
- Pass 'paged' and 'posts_per_page' in WP_Query args.
- Loop through posts with have_posts() and the_post().
- Show pagination links to navigate pages.
- Clicking links updates 'paged' and reruns query.

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how WordPress handles pagination with custom queries. First, it gets the current page number using get_query_var('paged'), defaulting to 1 if none is set. Then it creates query arguments including 'paged' and 'posts_per_page' to control which posts to fetch. WP_Query runs with these args to get posts for that page. The posts are displayed, and pagination links are shown to let users move to next or previous pages. When a user clicks a pagination link, the 'paged' variable updates, and the query runs again for the new page. This repeats until no more posts are found, ending pagination. The execution table traces each step, showing variable changes and posts retrieved. Key moments clarify why 'paged' starts at 1, why it is passed in query args, and what happens at the last page. The quiz tests understanding of posts retrieved per page and variable changes. This helps beginners see how pagination works step-by-step in WordPress custom queries.