I’m working with a custom post type in WordPress that has several custom fields attached to it. Right now I’m using a manual approach to control the display order by adding an “Order” custom field where I input numbers to set the position of each post.
The current system works but it’s really tedious to manage. When I want to move one post from position 8 to position 3, I have to manually update the order values for multiple other posts to maintain the correct sequence. This becomes time consuming especially when dealing with many posts.
What I’m looking for is a way to:
Dynamically reorder posts without manually updating each one
Have the new order reflect automatically on the frontend
Make the reordering process more efficient and user friendly
Has anyone implemented a solution for this kind of dynamic post ordering system? I’d appreciate any suggestions or code examples that could help streamline this process.
i use the Simple Page Ordering plugin too! it makes life so much easier with the drag and drop feature. just enable it for ur custom post types and u won’t need to mess with numbers anymore. totally a game changer!
Check out the Post Types Order plugin - it’s perfect for this. I used it last year on a client site with the same portfolio ordering needs. It automatically adds a menu_order field and gives you a drag-and-drop interface in the admin. Best part? It changes the global query order without touching your theme files. Changes show up on the frontend immediately after you save. Super easy to install and works with most themes. Just make sure your custom post type has page-attributes support enabled when you register it, or the ordering won’t work.
I ran into the same issue building a testimonials section. Skip the plugins - WordPress has built-in drag and drop that works great. Add ‘page-attributes’ support to your custom post type and use the menu_order field. Build a custom admin page with your posts in a sortable table using jQuery UI sortable. When someone drags to reorder, AJAX updates the menu_order values automatically. On the frontend, just add ‘orderby’ => ‘menu_order’ to your WP_Query. Way better than plugins that break when themes update.