What Is a Parent Page?<\/h2>\n
A WordPress parent page is a top-level page in the site’s hierarchy. The group of sub-pages nestled under it are called child pages.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>
Differences Between a Parent Page and a Child Page<\/h2>
Creating a hierarchical structure requires establishing a parent-child relationship between individual pages. In this arrangement, parent pages are superior to child pages, meaning child pages cannot exist without them.<\/p>
![\"Hostinger](\"\/tutorials\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/05\/Hostinger-Tutorials-parent-page-Follow-along-with-one-of-our-tutorials.png\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>Take Hostinger Tutorials as an example. Under the main menu, you’ll find eight categories, including WordPress, VPS, and Video Tutorials. These are all child pages under the parent page \/tutorials\/<\/strong>.<\/p> Another factor that differentiates child pages from parent pages is the URL. By default, child pages carry their parent page’s slug in their URL.<\/p> For instance, the URL of the Hostinger Tutorials<\/strong> parent page is \/tutorials\/<\/strong>, while the WordPress <\/strong>child page is \/tutorials\/wordpress<\/a>.<\/p> To establish a hierarchical page structure, you’ll need to publish your first page in WordPress. Here are the steps to create parent pages:<\/p> Repeat these steps to add other parent pages to your website.<\/p> Now, you can start creating child pages:<\/p> Repeat these steps as necessary to create multiple child pages. You can change their order of appearance by assigning a numeric value. To do that, use the Order <\/strong>textbox in the Page Attributes<\/strong> section.<\/p> \n\n\n Click the Screen Options drop-down menu at the top of the page and check the box next to the Page Attributes option. Now, you’ll be able to set parent pages.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p> Displaying the list of child pages on their respective parent page is a great way to have a clear structure. It allows visitors to find the information they’re looking for much faster and easier, improving the user experience and the site’s navigation.<\/p> There are three ways to display a list of your child pages ‒ using a WordPress plugin, coding it manually, or editing the page template.<\/p> This method is the easiest because it streamlines the configuration process. The best WordPress plugins<\/a> provide shortcode parameters to add the list of child pages to a parent page and set the list style.<\/p> There are plenty of plugins available in the WordPress directory. In this tutorial, we’ll be using Page-list<\/a>. First, install and activate the plugin<\/a>.<\/p> On the plugin’s page, you’ll see a collection of shortcodes with parameters for list styling:<\/p> Here’s how to use the Page-list plugin to display a list of child pages in WordPress:<\/p> Manually coding offers more flexibility in customizing the list of child pages. However, the process requires some technical knowledge, which may not suit WordPress beginners and non-technical users.<\/p> The code needs to be added to your theme’s functions.php<\/strong> file, accessible through an FTP client<\/a> or a File Manager.<\/p> If you use our site hosting services<\/a>, here are the steps to create a child page index using Hostinger File Manager<\/strong>:<\/p> \n\n Important!<\/strong> The [wpb_childpages]<\/strong> shortcode won’t work on pages that aren’t part of the hierarchical structure.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p> Using shortcodes makes sense if you have a small number of pages. For a large-scale website, it is better to edit the page template file and automate the insertion process.<\/p> To do so, add the code mentioned above to the functions.php<\/strong> file. Then, insert this code snippet into the page.php<\/strong> file of your active theme:<\/p> That’s it! The theme will automatically detect child pages and display them on the website.<\/p> As mentioned earlier, having a hierarchical structure can significantly improve the navigation and user experience of your WordPress site. What many WordPress users don’t know is that the page structure can also influence your site’s SEO<\/a>.<\/p> If done correctly, page structure helps search engines like Google crawl and index a site by making its content easier to find and understand. Plus, the hierarchy tells search engines which pages are important, boosting a site’s authority and searchability.<\/p> Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your page structure:<\/p> Setting up WordPress parent pages is not an essential task, but we highly recommend it. It will create a hierarchical structure that will make your WordPress website easy to navigate.<\/p> We hope this article has helped you understand the purpose of parent and child pages in WordPress and how to set them up properly. Good luck!<\/p> If you want to learn more about the parent page in WordPress, the following are some frequently asked questions about the topic.<\/p> To make a parent page private in WordPress, edit the page, locate the Visibility <\/strong>setting in the Publish<\/strong> box, click Edit<\/strong>, and select Private<\/strong>. Then, click OK<\/strong> to save your changes. The page, and any child pages, will now only be visible to users with the appropriate permissions.<\/p> <\/div> Open the page editor and locate the Discussion<\/strong> settings in the Document<\/strong> tab. To disable comments on a parent page in WordPress, uncheck Allow Comments <\/strong>and save your changes. This will disable comments for the parent page and any child pages by default.<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WordPress has two default post types – posts and pages. However, unlike posts and other custom post types, pages don’t […]<\/p>\nHow to Set Parent and Child Pages in WordPress<\/h2>
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Page Attributes Not Showing Up?<\/h4>\n
How to Display the List of Child Pages of a Parent Page<\/h2>
Use a Plugin to Show the List of Child Pages<\/h3>
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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>Show the List of Child Pages by Coding<\/h3>
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function wpb_list_child_pages() { \n global $post; \nif ( is_page() && $post->post_parent )\n $childpages = wp_list_pages( 'sort_column=menu_order&title_li=&child_of=' . $post->post_parent . '&echo=0' );\nelse\n $childpages = wp_list_pages( 'sort_column=menu_order&title_li=&child_of=' . $post->ID . '&echo=0' ); \nif ( $childpages ) {\n $string = '<ul class=\"wpb_page_list\">' . $childpages . '<\/ul>';\n} \nreturn $string; \n}\nadd_shortcode('wpb_childpages', 'wpb_list_child_pages');<\/pre>\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>Edit the Page Template to Show the List of Child Pages<\/h3>
<?php wpb_list_child_pages(); ?><\/pre>
Bonus: How to Manage Parent and Child Pages<\/h3>
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<\/a><\/figure>Conclusion<\/h2>
Parent Page WordPress FAQs<\/h2>
How Do I Make a Parent Page Private in WordPress?<\/h3>
How Can I Disable Comments on a Parent Page in WordPress?<\/h3>