Decided to break up WordPress posts into several pages because they’re too long or too diverse in content? No wonder; posts represent the building block of blogging on WordPress and in general, and should be easy to read, descriptive, and concise. If you can’t avoid covering a topic in-depth, which may require thousands of words, you can at least optimize the way it looks on the front end through formatting. Our goal is to help both you and your visitors to be happy with what you publish—the content quality is your responsibility. With that said, let’s show you how to split WordPress posts into multiple pages.
Word of advice. When breaking up a single post into several pages, make sure that the latest bits of information is on the page at the top. That way readers don’t have to scour pages or wait to reach the last one.
1. Break up WordPress posts into several pages in default content editors
Whether your goal is to help your readers digest content easier, navigate sections without hassle, or simply boost page views and thus increase your ad revenue, the solution is identical. WordPress recognized this need a long time ago and has provided ways to solve the problem since Classic Editor. With that said, let’s cover two ways to separate WordPress posts into multiple pages using WordPress content editors.
Employ Gutenberg Editor to insert the “next page” break
We’ll start with the up-to-date method since we presume that’s what most users want to know. The simplest way to configure post pagination is to take advantage of Block Editor’s “Page Break” block. Here’s how that works:
- Open a WordPress post in question.
- Press Enter to move into a new row.
- Click the + button on the right-hand side.
- Search for “page break” and select Page Break. You’ll now see a line that looks like this:
——- PAGE BREAK ——-
This line will only be visible on the back end. If you press the Preview button in the top right corner, then select any of the offered options, you’ll only see a bit of blank space where the break is. Below that should be an element that lets users switch pages such as: Pages: 1 2 3 4
Splitting posts into a few pages in Classic Editor
WordPress Classic Editor doesn’t have the privilege of offering a block for this purpose. However, it provides a simple method to achieve the same result. Simply begin editing the WordPress posts in question and switch to a new row where you want to make a split into a handful of pages. While your cursor is there, press the Alt + Shift + P keys on your keyboard together. If you can see the top menu below “Add Media” you can also put the cursor in the designated spot before selecting Insert → Page Break from the drop-down menu.
2. Separate a post in WordPress into numerous pages through shortcode
Are you adept at editing HTML on WordPress? If so, you can switch to the “Visual” tab in Classic Editor or “Code Editor” in Gutenberg Editor. After doing so, go ahead and find the place where you want to break up the content. Then, simply put <!––nextpage––> in an empty row separating two pages and repeat this as many times as you need. Moreover, you can add a new block in Block Editor, search for “shortcode”, pick Shortcode on the list, and use the aforementioned line as a shortcode.
3. Use a WordPress plugin to split posts into multiple pages
The two methods above are simple enough to cover most users’ needs. However, some website owners are doing this to shrink the bounce rate and boost ad impressions and page views. Bloggers may also publish lengthy WordPress posts regularly and require a page break every, say, 1000 words. In similar cases, the risk of error is high, and applying a page break manually is tedious. Luckily, you don’t have to. There are multiple WordPress plugins you can install to solve the issue. We’ll demonstrate the procedure with the most popular one. We are not affiliated, and you’re free to pick any you like.
- Install and activate a plugin of your choice. We’ll use the best-known one, Pagination by BestWebSoft.
- Expand the left sidebar in WordPress Admin.
- Go to Pagination → Settings.
- Under “General”, configure where to apply pagination (all pages or only a certain type, whether custom post types should be included). You can also mix different forms of pagination with “Hide Standard Pagination for” and “Hide Custom Pagination” settings.
- If you’d like something similar to the two methods above, set “Pagination Position” to Below content.
- Recommended. Enable settings such as “Current (Total) Page Count” and “Next & Previous Buttons” to improve user experience.
- Optional. Switch to Misc and Custom Code tabs to configure lots of extra options, depending on your goal.
- After you’re done, click the Save Changes button in the top right corner. Preview the result on drafts, pending, and published posts.