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Troubleshooting Common WP-PageNavi Issues: Why Your Pagination Isn't Working

53 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Wp-pagenavi

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Why Isn't My WP-PageNavi Pagination Displaying Correctly?

WP-PageNavi is a powerful plugin that replaces WordPress's default 'Older/Newer Posts' pagination with a more user-friendly numbered page navigation. However, users often encounter issues where the pagination doesn't appear, shows incorrect page numbers, or displays strangely. Based on common community reports, most problems are not caused by the plugin itself but by theme conflicts, custom queries, or configuration issues.

1. Pagination Doesn't Appear or Only Shows "Page 1 of 1"

Why this happens: This is the most common issue and typically occurs because the theme's template files haven't been properly modified to use the WP-PageNavi function, or because a custom query is missing the crucial 'paged' parameter.

How to fix it:

  • Replace the default pagination: In your theme's template files (e.g., index.php, archive.php, category.php), locate the existing pagination code, which is often previous_posts_link() and next_posts_link(). Replace it with the function <?php wp_pagenavi(); ?>.
  • Check for custom queries: If you or your theme uses a custom WP_Query, ensure the 'paged' parameter is correctly set by using $paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? get_query_var( 'paged' ) : 1; and including 'paged' => $paged in the query arguments.
  • Adjust reading settings: Verify that you have enough posts to trigger pagination. Go to Settings > Reading and ensure the "Blog pages show at most" setting is a low number (e.g., 4-5) so that pagination is necessary.

2. Pagination Shows Incorrect Number of Pages or Blank Pages

Why this happens: The plugin calculates the number of pages based on the main WordPress query. If a theme modifies this query incorrectly, it can result in WP-PageNavi showing far more pages than actually exist, with later pages being blank.

How to fix it: This is almost always a theme issue. A frequent cause is the use of query_posts(), which is not recommended. To test, temporarily disable WP-PageNavi and see if the default "Next" link still appears and leads to an empty page. If it does, you need to contact your theme's author for support or look for a faulty custom query in your theme's files.

3. Styling Issues: Numbers Appear Vertically or Out of Order

Why this happens: The pagination links are appearing in a vertical list instead of a horizontal row due to a CSS conflict, usually from your theme.

How to fix it:

  • Inspect CSS: Use your browser's developer tools to inspect the page navigation elements. The most common fix is to ensure the surrounding container and the page links themselves are properly floated. Often, adding a CSS rule like .wp-pagenavi a, .wp-pagenavi span { float: left; } can resolve the issue.
  • Disable the included CSS: In the WP-PageNavi settings, try unchecking the "Use pagenavi-css.css" option. This will prevent the plugin's default styles from potentially conflicting with your theme's styles, allowing you to write your own CSS from scratch.

4. Settings Page is Empty or Settings Won't Save

Why this happens: On rare occasions, particularly on multisite installations or due to plugin conflicts, the settings page may malfunction.

How to fix it:

  • Check for conflicts: Deactivate all other plugins temporarily to see if a conflict is causing the problem. If the settings page works normally, reactivate your plugins one by one to identify the culprit.
  • Default Settings: If your settings have been lost, the default values are as follows:
    • Text For Page Number: %PAGE_NUMBER%
    • Text For Current Page: %PAGE_NUMBER%
    • Text For First Page: « First
    • Text For Last Page: Last »

5. Unwanted Pagination in Sidebars or Widgets

Why this happens: The plugin's function might have been incorrectly placed in a template file that affects areas like sidebars, causing pagination to appear under recent post lists or other widgets.

How to fix it: Carefully review your theme's template files to ensure the wp_pagenavi(); function is only called in the main loop area of pages like the homepage, archive pages, and search results—not in the sidebar (sidebar.php) or footer.

Conclusion

In the vast majority of cases, issues with WP-PageNavi are resolvable by ensuring proper theme integration and checking for query errors. The plugin relies on the standard WordPress loop and query variables to function correctly. If you have followed these troubleshooting steps and are still experiencing problems, the next best step is to seek help from your theme's support channel, as the conflict likely originates there.

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