How to Change Order or Posts or Custom Post Types in the Dashboard

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In the WordPress dashboard, posts are displayed in the ‘latest first’ order. This also applies to pages and custom post types. However it is also easy to change this order if you wish to do so. It might be more practical for example, to have them display according to their title, in ascending order.

This is how you do it, using the pre_get_posts filter:

[php]
add_action( ‘pre_get_posts’, ‘mycpt_order’ );
/**
* Change order of custom post type to alphabetical ascending
*/
function mycpt_order( $query ) {
// check if we’re in admin, if not exit
if ( ! is_admin ) {
return;
}

$post_type = $query->get(‘post_type’);

if ( $post_type == ‘mycpt’ ) {
/* Post Column: e.g. title */
if ( $query->get( ‘orderby’ ) == ” ) {
$query->set( ‘orderby’, ‘title’ );
}
/* Post Order: ASC / DESC */
if( $query->get( ‘order’ ) == ” ){
$query->set( ‘order’, ‘ASC’ );
}
}
}

[/php]

Of course, replace mycpt with the name of your post type.

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Written by Jean Galea

Jean Galea is an investor, entrepreneur, and writer. He is the founder of WP Mayor, and the plugins WP RSS Aggregator and Spotlight. He also runs AgentVania. Connect with him on X or LinkedIn, or visit jeangalea.com.

6 Responses

That was exactly what I needed. Worked great on WP 6.7.1 Thanks

Wow. Interesting. Thanks.

Question: Can this be used to sort by a post metadata field / value?

If so, can you add that example above?

Yes there is an easy way, if you don’t mind pasting some code into your functions.php file, or creating a simple plugin that does this.

The WordPress query has many parameters, and one of them controls the order in which posts are displayed, as indicated above. You need to take a look at this link:

Basically you will need to set the orderby to ‘date’ and order to ‘DESC’.

3arn0wl says:

November 10, 2012 at 23:17

Hmm! I understand most of those words. I’ll take a look at the link! Can I come back when I don’t understand it?? 😉

Thanks for your help!
1. 3arn0wl says:
  
  November 10, 2012 at 23:33
  
  HEEEEEEEELP! I’m WAY out of my depth here! Where do I find the functions.php file? Do I have to upgrade from .com?

Is there an easy way to display posts from first to last, rather than the last up front? I ask because pleasepresshere.wordpress.com basically turned into a sort-of book, and it struck me that WordPress might further the e-book cause by adding such a feature.

Thanks,

GT says:

February 7, 2025 at 12:47

That was exactly what I needed. Worked great on WP 6.7.1 Thanks
Mark Simchock says:

November 10, 2012 at 22:40

Wow. Interesting. Thanks.

Question: Can this be used to sort by a post metadata field / value?

If so, can you add that example above?
Jean Galea says:

November 7, 2012 at 22:21

Yes there is an easy way, if you don’t mind pasting some code into your functions.php file, or creating a simple plugin that does this.

The WordPress query has many parameters, and one of them controls the order in which posts are displayed, as indicated above. You need to take a look at this link:

Basically you will need to set the orderby to ‘date’ and order to ‘DESC’.
1. 3arn0wl says:
  
  November 10, 2012 at 23:17
  
  Hmm! I understand most of those words. I’ll take a look at the link! Can I come back when I don’t understand it?? 😉
  
  Thanks for your help!
  1. 3arn0wl says:
    
    November 10, 2012 at 23:33
    
    HEEEEEEEELP! I’m WAY out of my depth here! Where do I find the functions.php file? Do I have to upgrade from .com?
3arn0wl says:

November 7, 2012 at 22:04

Is there an easy way to display posts from first to last, rather than the last up front? I ask because pleasepresshere.wordpress.com basically turned into a sort-of book, and it struck me that WordPress might further the e-book cause by adding such a feature.

Thanks,

3