Why would you need to find post IDs or page IDs?<\/h2>
You may need a post or page ID in several instances. For example, building a custom shortcode requires a unique ID number as the parameter. When adding widgets to a WordPress theme, you may also need to identify the post ID.<\/p>
Here are some other cases where you can use a page ID or post ID:<\/p>
- \n
- Creating custom post or page orders without interrupting other WordPress site content<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Including or excluding specific posts from a custom list<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Specifying a post or page in a custom template file<\/li>\n<\/ul>
How to find WordPress post and page IDs manually<\/h2>
There are three simple ways to find WordPress page and post IDs:<\/p>
- \n
- Via the site URL within the WordPress admin area<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Via the URL with the plain permalink<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Using the WordPress text editor<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Let’s go over the steps for each of these methods.<\/p>
1. Via the URL in the WordPress dashboard<\/h3>
Here’s how to locate post, page, and category IDs within URLs from the WordPress admin dashboard.<\/p>
Post ID<\/strong><\/p>
- \n
- From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Posts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over one of your post titles. For example, we’ll hover over a post entitled “What Is HTML? Hypertext Markup Language Basics Explained.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Posts-screen-highlighting-a-post-entitled-22What-Is-HTML-Hypertext-Markup-Language-Basics-Explained22.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- At the bottom left corner, a URL will appear. The post ID is the number between the “post=<\/strong>” and “&<\/strong>” parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
Page ID<\/strong><\/p>
- \n
- Go to Pages<\/strong> -> All Pages<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over a WordPress page title. For example, we’ll choose the Home<\/strong> page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![WordPress Page screen, highlighting a page entitled \"Home\".](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Page-screen-highlighting-a-page-entitled-22Home22.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- At the bottom left corner, a URL will appear. The WordPress page ID is the number between the “post=<\/strong>” and “&<\/strong>” parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
Category ID<\/strong><\/p>
- \n
- Navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> Categories<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over a category.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Categories-screen-highlighting-a-category-entitled-22Category22.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- At the bottom left corner, a URL will appear. The category ID is the number between the “category&tag_ID=<\/strong>” and “&<\/strong>” parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
2. Via a URL with a plain permalink structure<\/h3>
If you set the permalink structure<\/a> to a default or plain permalink<\/a>, the “post=<\/strong>” parameter in the URL will change to “p=<\/strong>”. Meanwhile, the “category&tag_ID=<\/strong>” parameter changes to “cat=<\/strong>” for the category ID and “tag=<\/strong>” for the tag ID.<\/p>
Here’s how to find a post ID in WordPress with the URL set to the plain permalink structure.<\/p>
- \n
- From the WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Settings<\/strong> -> Permalinks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- If you haven’t set the permalink to plain, change it to Plain<\/strong> and click Save Changes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Permalink-Settings-screen-highlighting-the-option-Plain.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- Go to Posts<\/strong> -> All Posts<\/strong>. Choose a post and click View<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Posts-screen-highlighting-the-View-button.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- You will be taken to the website preview page. The post ID is the number following the “p=<\/strong>” parameter in the URL.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"Web](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/Web-browsers-address-bar-highlighting-a-post-ID.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>3. Using the WordPress Text Editor<\/h3>
You can also find WordPress post IDs using the WordPress text editor.<\/p>
- \n
- Navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Posts<\/strong>. To identify a WordPress page ID, navigate to Pages<\/strong> -> All<\/strong> Pages<\/strong> instead.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Choose a post or page and click Edit<\/strong> to open the WordPress text editor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- For example, we used a post entitled “How to Make a Website From Scratch: A Beginner’s Guide<\/a>.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Posts-screen-highlighting-the-Edit-button.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- Locate the post ID number in the address bar. It’s in the URL, located between the “post=<\/strong>” and “&<\/strong>” parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
How to find a WordPress post ID or page ID with a plugin<\/h2>
You can use a WordPress plugin to find post and page IDs. Since there are many WordPress plugins to choose from, we recommend Reveal IDs<\/a>.<\/p>
\n![The Reveals IDs official website, inside the \"WordPress\" page.](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/The-Reveals-IDs-official-website-inside-the-22WordPress22-page.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>Reveal IDs Stats<\/strong>:<\/p>
- \n
- Downloads:<\/strong> 60,000+<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Rating:<\/strong> 5\/5<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Notable features:<\/strong> sortable columns, lightweight, and multilingual support<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best suited for:<\/strong> advanced WordPress users or developers<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Price:<\/strong> free<\/li>\n<\/ul>
Reveal IDs is a WordPress plugin that lets you see WordPress IDs for posts, pages, categories, and tags within the admin page. This free plugin is lightweight, multilingual, and regularly updated.<\/p>
After installing the WordPress plugin<\/a>, navigate to Posts <\/strong>-> All Posts<\/strong> or Pages <\/strong>-> All Pages<\/strong> from your WordPress dashboard. You will see a new column of post or page IDs.<\/p>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Posts-screen-highlighting-a-post-ID-column.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>How to find WordPress post IDs and page IDs: Advanced methods<\/h2>
Check out the following methods for more technical ways to retrieve post and page IDs.<\/p>
1. Using WordPress functions<\/h3>
There are four ways of getting post IDs using WordPress functions.<\/p>
Get Post ID Using the get_the_ID() and the_ID() Functions<\/strong><\/p>
The get_the_ID()<\/a> and the_ID()<\/a> functions display the current post’s ID. The main difference between the two functions is that get_the_ID()<\/strong> returns the post ID without displaying it, while the_ID() <\/strong>always prints the post ID.<\/p>
If you use the get_the_ID() <\/strong>function, make sure to add the echo<\/strong> function to display post IDs:<\/p>
echo get_the_id();<\/pre>
Meanwhile, the_ID()<\/strong> doesn’t need the echo<\/strong> function to view post IDs:<\/p>
the_ID();<\/pre>
Get post ID by title<\/strong><\/p>
The get_page_by_title()<\/a> function works for WordPress pages and custom post types. This function can be applied to the theme or plugin files.<\/p>
Here is how the get_page_by_title()<\/strong> function looks like:<\/p>
$mypost = get_page_by_title( 'post title here', '', 'post' );\necho $mypost->ID;<\/pre>
Make sure to change the ‘post title here<\/strong>‘ parameter with your post title.<\/p>
Get post ID by URL<\/strong><\/p>
You can also fetch post IDs from WordPress URLs using the url_to_postid()<\/a> function. This function examines a URL and determines its post ID.<\/p>
To use the url_to_postid()<\/strong> function, enter the post URL into the function like this:<\/p>
url_to_postid( 'post’s URL here');<\/pre>
Change the ‘post’s URL here<\/strong>‘ parameter with the post’s URL.<\/p>
Get post ID by slug<\/strong><\/p>
Another way to retrieve WordPress post IDs is by using the get_page_by_path()<\/a> function. This function is similar to the get_page_by_title()<\/strong> function. However, instead of using the post title, you need to enter the post’s slug or path:<\/p>
$mypost = get_page_by_path('slug here', '', 'post');\necho $mypost->ID;<\/pre>Remember to replace ‘slug here<\/strong>‘ with your own post slug.<\/p>
We recommend backing up your WordPress site before testing these functions. We will show you how to use the get_the_ID()<\/strong> function:<\/p>
- \n
- From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Appearance<\/strong> -> Theme File Editor<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Go to the Theme Files<\/strong> tab -> template-parts<\/strong> -> content.php<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Theme-Editor-screen-highlighting-the-content.php-file.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- Enter the get_the_ID()<\/strong> function under the comment tag.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Theme-Editor-Screen-highlighting-a-code-snippet.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- Click Update File<\/strong> to save the changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Click the Visit Site<\/strong> button in the top left corner of the screen. You will see the post ID at the top of each post’s title.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/A-websites-homepage-highlighting-two-Post-IDs.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>2. Using the WordPress posts table with custom code<\/h3>
You can add a post ID column in the WordPress posts table using a custom code. This is an excellent method if you regularly use post IDs:<\/p>
- \n
- Open File Manager<\/strong> from your hosting control panel. Alternatively, use a file manager plugin<\/a> or a theme editor<\/a> to access website files within the WordPress dashboard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- In File Manager, navigate to public_html <\/strong>-> wp-content<\/strong> -> themes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Open your active WordPress theme directory. For instance, the active theme is Twenty Sixteen<\/strong>. Consider creating a child theme<\/a> to minimize the risk of breaking the original theme’s functionality.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Open your theme’s functions.php file<\/a> with a text editor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Copy and paste the following code snippet at the bottom line of the functions.php<\/strong> file:<\/li>\n<\/ol>
function add_column( $columns ){\n\t$columns['post_id_clmn'] = 'ID'; \/\/ $columns['Column ID'] = 'Column Title';\n\treturn $columns;\n}\nadd_filter('manage_posts_columns', 'add_column', 5);\n\nfunction column_content( $column, $id ){\n\tif( $column === 'post_id_clmn')\n\t\techo $id;\n}\nadd_action('manage_posts_custom_column', 'column_content', 5, 2);\n<\/pre>\n![\"hPanel](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/hPanel-File-Managers-built-in-text-editor-highlighting-code-snippets.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>- \n
- Click Save & Close<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Access your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Post<\/strong>. You will see a new column containing the posts’ ID numbers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
\n![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Posts-screen-highlighting-a-post-ID-column-1.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>3. Via the WordPress database<\/h3>
The database stores all necessary WordPress website data, including the IDs of posts, pages, categories, tags, and comments.<\/p>
To find post IDs within the site’s database, follow these steps:<\/p>
- \n
- From your hosting control panel, navigate to Databases <\/strong>-> phpMyAdmin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Choose a database from the list of current databases and click Enter phpMyAdmin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- In phpMyAdmin, go to wp_posts<\/strong>. Then, locate the ID column<\/strong> on the wp_posts<\/strong> table to see the post IDs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- Choose a database from the list of current databases and click Enter phpMyAdmin<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Access your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Post<\/strong>. You will see a new column containing the posts’ ID numbers.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- In File Manager, navigate to public_html <\/strong>-> wp-content<\/strong> -> themes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Click the Visit Site<\/strong> button in the top left corner of the screen. You will see the post ID at the top of each post’s title.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- Click Update File<\/strong> to save the changes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Go to the Theme Files<\/strong> tab -> template-parts<\/strong> -> content.php<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- Rating:<\/strong> 5\/5<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Downloads:<\/strong> 60,000+<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Choose a post or page and click Edit<\/strong> to open the WordPress text editor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Posts<\/strong>. To identify a WordPress page ID, navigate to Pages<\/strong> -> All<\/strong> Pages<\/strong> instead.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- You will be taken to the website preview page. The post ID is the number following the “p=<\/strong>” parameter in the URL.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- If you haven’t set the permalink to plain, change it to Plain<\/strong> and click Save Changes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- From the WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Settings<\/strong> -> Permalinks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over a category.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- Navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> Categories<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over a WordPress page title. For example, we’ll choose the Home<\/strong> page.<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- Go to Pages<\/strong> -> All Pages<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hover over one of your post titles. For example, we’ll hover over a post entitled “What Is HTML? Hypertext Markup Language Basics Explained.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>
- From the WordPress dashboard, navigate to Posts<\/strong> -> All Posts<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
![\"wp_post](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/wp_post-table-inside-phpMyAdmin-highlighting-a-post-ID-column.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>![\"WordPress](\"https:\/\/imagedelivery.net\/LqiWLm-3MGbYHtFuUbcBtA\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/04\/WordPress-Theme-Editor-highlighting-the-single.php-file.png\/public\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>