When you initially set up your website, WordPress organizes your categories in alphabetical order. But is this the most effective way to present your content?
We’ve discovered that personalizing the category order can significantly enhance your site. It allows you to emphasize your most popular subjects, direct visitors to key content, or even increase sales if you’re operating an online store.
However, the challenge is that WordPress does not allow you to modify the category order by default. We encountered this issue ourselves and had to find a solution, which we will guide you through in this step-by-step tutorial.
Reasons to Change Category Order in WordPress
At times, you may wish to display all categories and subcategories on your WordPress site. You can achieve this by adding the Categories List block to any page, post, or widget-ready area.
This approach helps visitors navigate by category in WordPress and discover the content they are eager to read.
The standard category order for blog posts in WordPress is alphabetical. However, this may not be the most suitable arrangement for your website.
For instance, if you operate a WooCommerce store, you might want to rearrange the product categories to feature your best-selling categories at the top.
Let’s explore how to easily modify the default category order on your WordPress site.
How to Rearrange Blog Post Categories in WordPress
The most effective way to customize your category order is by using the Category Order plugin. This free tool enables you to rearrange your categories with a simple drag-and-drop interface.
First, you need to install and activate the Category Order plugin. For detailed instructions, refer to our comprehensive guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activation, navigate to Posts » Taxonomy Order in the WordPress dashboard to view a complete list of categories on your blog.
You can now easily reorder your WordPress categories by dragging and dropping them.
If you have child categories, they will be displayed indented beneath their parent categories.
When you move a parent category, its child categories will move along with it.
Once you’re satisfied with the new category order, simply click the ‘Update’ button.
You can now add the Categories List block to any widget-ready area. For detailed steps, please refer to our guide on adding and using widgets in WordPress.
Additionally, you can include the Categories List widget on any page or post.
Next, visit your WordPress website to view your categories organized in your preferred order.
How to Rearrange Product Category Order in WooCommerce
If you run an online store, you can easily add a list of your product categories to any page, post, or widget-ready area using the Product Categories List block.
This feature helps customers locate the items they wish to purchase, especially when combined with an efficient WooCommerce product search.
Fortunately, the Category Order plugin is compatible with the product custom post type, allowing you to modify the order of categories in the list.
For instance, you might want to showcase your most popular product categories first or highlight your ‘Sales’ category so that customers don’t overlook any promotions.
To rearrange your product categories, navigate to Products » Taxonomy Order.
You can now easily rearrange all WooCommerce product categories and subcategories in your online store using a drag-and-drop interface. Once you’re satisfied with the changes, click ‘Update’ to apply them.
You can now proceed to add the Product Categories List block to any page, post, or widget-ready area.
If you’re using a block-enabled WordPress theme, you can easily add the Product Categories List block to editable areas using the WordPress Full Site Editor.
For instance, you can place the block on your 404 page template, archives page, search results, or any other page. This can help you attract more clicks and boost sales.
Once you’ve added this block, simply visit your online store to view the product category pages arranged in your preferred order.
To discover more about WordPress categories, check out the guides listed below:
- Essential Category Hacks and Plugins for WordPress
- Categories vs Tags – SEO Best Practices for Organizing Your Content
- How to Add Categories and Tags to WordPress Pages
- How to Add Product Tags, Attributes, and Categories in WooCommerce
- How to Add Categories and Tags to the WordPress Media Library
- How to Convert WordPress Categories into Custom Taxonomies
We hope this article has helped you learn how to rearrange category order in WordPress. You may also want to check out our article on styling individual categories differently in WordPress and our beginner’s guide to creating custom WordPress taxonomies.
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