AlphaListing

Provides an A to Z index page and widget. This plugin is based on the original A-Z Listing by Dani Llewellyn, which is no longer maintained.

Author:	Ethan Lin (profile at wordpress.org)
WordPress version required:	5.0
WordPress version tested:	6.8
Plugin version:	4.3.5
Added to WordPress repository:	12-03-2025
Last updated:	15-04-2025
Rating, %:	0
Rated by:	0
Plugin URI:	https://github.com/Lin87/alphalisting
Total downloads:	138
Active installs:	20+
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Display posts, pages, and terms alphabetically in a Rolodex-, catalog-, or directory-style list with the AlphaListing plugin!

This plugin includes a block and shortcode for the list, along with a widget for linking to the list from any location on a site. If a letter has no associated pages, the widget will display the letter unlinked, while the list page will omit the letter entirely.

Show posts from any single or multiple post types, including built-in posts and pages. Post types from plugins like WooCommerce products are also supported. Alternatively, display terms such as categories or tags.

** This plugin is based on the original A-Z Listing by Lucy (formerly Dani) Llewellyn, which is no longer maintained. Using a custom template is not guaranteed to continue working. For the latest example of the template, see the example template.**

Gutenberg Block

Use the AplhaListing block in most cases, as it provides guidance for configuring various options.

Shortcode for compatibility and PHP use

The plugin provides a shortcode for the full AlphaListing, enabling use without modifying theme templates.

Basic usage is as follows:

[alphalisting]

To specify a post-type to display instead of page then use, e.g. post:

[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="post"]

To filter the posts by a term from a taxonomy:

[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="post" taxonomy="category" terms="my-term-slug"]

To display pages that are direct children of the page with ID 24:

[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="page" parent-post="24"]

To display pages that are children of any depth below the page with ID 24:

[alphalisting display="posts" post-type="page" parent-post="24" get-all-children="yes"]

To show terms from a taxonomy instead of posts and pages, e.g. Terms from the Categories taxonomy:

[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category"]

To show terms from the Categories taxonomy that are direct children of the term with ID of 42:

[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category" parent-term="42"]

To show terms from the Categories taxonomy that are children of any depth in the tree below the term with ID of 42:

[alphalisting display="terms" taxonomy="category" parent-term="42" get-all-children="yes"]

To override the alphabet used by the plugin:

[alphalisting display="posts" alphabet="Aa,Bb,Cc,Dd,Ee,Ff,Gg,Hh,Ii,Jj,Kk,Ll,Mm,Nn,Oo,Pp,Qq,Rr,Ss,Tt,Uu,Vv,Ww,Xx,Yy,Zz"]

To add numbers to the listing:

[alphalisting display="posts" numbers="after"]

The numbers can also be shown before the alphabet:

[alphalisting display="posts" numbers="before"]

Group the numbers into a single collection for all posts beginning with a numeral.:

[alphalisting numbers="after" group-numbers="yes"]

To group the alphabet letters into a range:

[alphalisting grouping="3"]

** The arguments are all optional **

Common options

display: specifies whether to display posts or terms from a taxonomy.
- Default value: posts.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to either posts or terms.
- Any value other than posts or terms will default to displaying posts.
numbers: appends or prepends numerals to the alphabet.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to either before or after.
- Any value other than before or after will default to appending numerals to the alphabet.
grouping: tells the plugin if and how to group the alphabet.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to any positive number greater than 1 or the value numbers.
- Any value other than a positive number or the value numbers will default to disabling all grouping functionality.
- When set to a number higher than 1 the listing will group letters together into ranges.
- For example, choosing 3 groups the Latin alphabet so that A, B, and C become A-C, followed by D-F, G-I, and so on.
- When using this setting, if numbers are also shown via the numbers="before" or numbers="after" attribute then they will be shown as a single separate group 0-9.
- When set to the value numbers it will group numerals into a single group 0-9.
- This requires the numbers to be displayed via the numbers="before" or numbers="after" attributes.
group-numbers: tells the plugin to group all items beginning with a numeral into a single collection.
- Default value: false.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to true, yes, on, or 1 to group items beginning with a numeral in a single collection. All other values will keep the default behaviour.
symbols-first: Tells the plugin to put the unknown alphabet letter (symbols) group before the main alphabet.
- Default value: false.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to true, yes, on, or 1 to put the symbols group before the alphabet. All other values will keep the default behaviour.
alphabet: overrides the alphabet used by the plugin..
- Default value: unset.
- If this attribute is not defined, the plugin uses either the untranslated default or a translation from glotpress if available for the site’s language, as set in Admin -> Settings -> Site Language.
- The current untranslated default is: AÁÀÄÂaáàäâ,Bb,Cc,Dd,EÉÈËÊeéèëê,Ff,Gg,Hh,IÍÌÏÎiíìïî,Jj,Kk,Ll,Mm,Nn,OÓÒÖÔoóòöô,Pp,Qq,Rr,Ssß,Tt,UÚÙÜÛuúùüû,Vv,Ww,Xx,Yy,Zz.
- Accepts a single line of letters/symbols, which need to be separated via the comma character ,.
- Including more than one letter/symbol in each group will display posts starting with any of those under the same section.
- The first letter or symbol in each group serves as the group’s heading when displayed on the site.

Posts options

post-type: sets the listing to show a specific post-type.
- Default value: page.
- Multiple post-types may be specified by separating with commas (,) e.g. post-type="page,post".
- Must be the slug of the post-type(s).
parent-post: sets the parent post that all displayed posts must be descended from.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be the ID of the parent post.
- Add get-all-children="yes" to also include all descendants of any depth below the parent post.
exclude-posts: remove these posts from the list.
- Default value: unset.
- Multiple posts may be specified by separating by commas: ,.
- Must be the ID of the post(s).
taxonomy: sets the taxonomy containing the terms specified in the terms="" option.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be the slug of the taxonomy.
terms: sets the taxonomy terms for filtering posts.
- Default value: unset.
- The taxonomy must also be specified in taxonomy.
- Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: ,.
- Must be the slug of the term(s).

Terms options

taxonomy: sets the taxonomy to display terms from in the listing.
- Default value: unset.
- Multiple taxonomies may be specified by separating with commas: ,.
- Must be the slug of the taxonomy.
terms: sets the taxonomy terms to include in the listing.
- Default value: unset.
- The taxonomy must also be specified in taxonomy.
- Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: ,.
- Must be the ID of the term(s).
- Cannot be used with exclude-terms="".
exclude-terms: sets the terms to exclude from display.
- Default value: unset.
- The taxonomy must also be specified in taxonomy.
- Multiple terms may be specified by separating with commas: ,.
- Must be the ID of the term(s).
- Cannot be used with terms="".
parent-term: set the parent that all displayed terms must be descended from.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be the slug of the parent term.
- Add get-all-children="yes" to also include all descendants of any depth below the parent term.
get-all-children: when a parent term is chosen this option is used to show all children of any depth or only direct children.
- Default value: false.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to true, yes, on, or 1 to include all children of any depth. Any value other will use the default behaviour of only showing direct children.
hide-empty-terms: hide terms that have no posts associated.
- Default value: false.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to true, yes, on, or 1 to hide the empty terms. Any other value will use the default behaviour of showing all terms.

Internal-use options for completeness

** These are intended for internal use by the plugin and should not require any modifications.**

target: the default target for a listing that doesn’t show any items.
- Default value: unset.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to a URL which will be used as the target for the letters’ hyperlinks.
return: what type of listing to show, either listing or letters.
- Default value: listing.
- May only contain one value.
- Must be set to either listing to display the default view, or letters to show only the letters without any items (posts or terms).

PHP (expert)

Most compatible method

The best way to use the plugin from PHP is to call do_shortcode( '[alphalisting]' ); and save or echo the returned text. The parameter passed to do_shortcode() should be a complete AlphaListing shortcode with parameters as above.

Multiple Column Output

Multiple column layout is the default on wide screens. A letter’s group of items must contain at least 15 items to create two or more columns. This is to provide a more aesthetically pleasing view when a list is short with only a few items.

Templates and Theming

The plugin allows the site owner, developer, or themer to provide custom templates for the AlphaListing output.

To add a template to a theme, create a file similar to templates/a-z-listing.php from the plugin folder. Place the copy in the theme’s root directory and name it a-z-listing.php or a-z-listing-section.php (with -section as an optional top-level page slug for the section-targeting feature).

The Loop

The theme system this plugin implements is very similar to the standard WordPress loop, with a few added bits.

Important functions to include in the template are:

$a_z_query->the_letters() prints the full alphabet, and links the letters that have posts to their section within the index page.
$a_z_query->have_letters() returns true or false depending on whether there are any letters left to loop-through. This is part of the Letter Loop.
$a_z_query->have_items() behaves very similarly to Core’s have_posts() function. It is part of the Item Loop.
$a_z_query->the_letter() similar to Core’s the_post(), this will set-up the next iteration of the AlphaListing’s Letter Loop. This needs to wrap-around the Item Loop.
$a_z_query->the_item() similar to Core’s the_post(), this will set-up the next iteration of the AlphaListing’s Item Loop, the same way the normal WordPress Loop works. This needs to be within the Letter Loop.

Within the Item Loop, all built-in WordPress Core post-related functions, such as the_content(), can be used. Titles and permalinks have helper functions to accommodate AlphaListing’s display of taxonomy terms (see the next section).

Starting with a copy of the default template is recommended when creating a custom version. The provided template demonstrate the usage of most functions available in the plugin.

Helper functions

The plugin supports displaying taxonomy terms as though each term were a post. This means that the WordPress functions related to posts such as the_title() and the_permalink() are unreliable. We have therefore added helper functions which will return or print the correct output for the item.

These helper functions cope with the dual usage of the plugin supporting both WP_Query-based (returning WP_Post objects) and Taxonomy Terms (returning WP_Term objects) listings. These are:

$a_z_query->the_title() – prints the current item’s Title
$a_z_query->get_the_title() returns the current item’s Title but does not print it directly
$a_z_query->the_permalink() prints the current item’s Permalink
$a_z_query->get_the_permalink() returns the current item’s Permalink but does not print it directly
$a_z_query->the_item_id() prints the current item’s ID
$a_z_query->get_the_item_id() returns the current item’s ID but does not print it directly

Screenshots
FAQ

Why is the list layout completely broken?

When using a page builder like WPBakery or Elementor, place the shortcode in a regular text area. Using a preformatted text area adds <pre> tags around the listing output, which can significantly disrupt the layout.

Why is my list in a single column?

Each letter heading requires at least 11 items for a second column to appear. At 11 items, the list splits into two columns, with 6 items in the first and 5 in the second. A third column is added at 21 items if space allows, continuing up to a maximum of 15 columns. However, most web pages are unlikely to accommodate more than a few columns. Once multiple columns are present, items distribute evenly across them.

How do I show posts of a different post-type (not pages) or multiple post-types (e.g. posts AND pages)?

This can be achieved using either the shortcode or PHP. In these examples, post-type-slug represents a placeholder. WordPress provides default post types called “Posts” and “Pages,” with slugs post and page, respectively. Replace example placeholders (e.g., post-type-slug, type1-slug) with the appropriate post type names.

shortcode method

Single post-type

[alphalisting post-type="post-type-slug"]

Multiple post-types

For multiple post-types just separate them with a comma.

[alphalisting post-type="type1-slug,type2-slug"]

PHP method

PHP code must be added to theme files and cannot be used within post or page content like a shortcode.

Single post-type

<?php
the_alphalisting( array(
    'post_type' => 'post-type-slug'
) );
?>

Multiple post-types

<?php
the_alphalisting( array(
    'post_type' => array( 'type1-slug', 'type2-slug' )
) );
?>

The argument to the_alphalisting() is an array and takes the same parameters as WP_Query

The code must be placed within a PHP block, denoted by the <?php and ?> tags. Depending on the theme, these tags may not be necessary, and they can be omitted if the surrounding code is already within a PHP block.

How do I show posts from a specific category only?

This can be achieved using either a shortcode or PHP. In these examples, taxonomy and term serve as placeholders. WordPress provides default taxonomies called “Categories” and “Tags,” with slugs category and post_tag, respectively. Each category or tag is referred to as a “term.” Replace the example slugs (e.g., term-slug, term1-slug) with the actual slugs of the desired categories or tags.

shortcode method

Single term

[alphalisting taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" terms="term-slug"]

Multiple terms

For multiple terms just separate them with a comma.

[alphalisting taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" terms="term1-slug,term2-slug"]

PHP method

PHP code must be added to theme files and cannot be used within post or page content like a shortcode.

<?php
the_alphalisting( array(
    'tax_query' => array(
        'taxonomy' => 'taxonomy-slug',
        'field' => 'slug',
        'terms' => array( 'term1-slug', 'term2-slug' )
    )
) );
?>

Any number of terms may be added to the terms array, including one or none.

The argument to the_alphalisting() is an array and takes the same parameters as WP_Query

The code must be placed within a PHP block, denoted by the <?php and ?> tags. Depending on the theme, these tags may not be necessary and can be omitted if the surrounding code is already within a PHP block.

How do I show terms from a taxonomy instead of posts?

This can be achieved using either a shortcode or PHP. In these examples, taxonomy and term serve as placeholders. WordPress provides default taxonomies called “Categories” and “Tags,” with slugs category and post_tag, respectively. Replace taxonomy-slug with the actual slug of the desired taxonomy.

shortcode method

[alphalisting taxonomy="taxonomy-slug" display="terms"]

The taxonomy parameter takes a single taxonomy’s slug, e.g. category or post_tag.

The display="terms" attribute is required to display taxonomy terms instead of posts.

PHP method

PHP code must be added to theme files and cannot be used within post or page content like a shortcode.

<?php
the_alphalisting( 'taxonomy-slug' );
?>

The argument to the_alphalisting() is a string and contains the slug of a single taxonomy, e.g. category or post_tag.

How do I remove section targeting or limit which sections are available?

Add the following code to the theme’s functions.php file:

<?php
add_filter( 'alphalisting-sections', '__return_empty_array' );
?>

This filter may also be used, by removing entries which are standard $post variables, to limit which top-level pages are used as section identifiers.