WordPress Plugin: Show Authors in wp_list_pages-Generated Page Lists

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Available for download from the WordPress plugin directory.

The WordPress wp_list_pages function accommodates a number of useful parameters. Developers can sort pages seven ways and in two different orders. They can exclude and include pages as they see fit — based on custom fields, date, parent-child relationship, &tc. — and display the date a page was last edited or first created.

Unfortunately, though, natively, WordPress’ wp_list_pages function doesn’t allow developers to list page authors within the permalinked page list it generates. To fix this rather surprising limitation, Studio Hyperset and UK developer Ryan Jarrett developed a workaround.

The “Show Authors in Page List” plugin — which can be downloaded from SH‘s Google code project site and the WordPress plugin directory — allows developers to display the page author’s name beside each permalinked title generated by the wp_list_pages function.

After installing and activating the plugin, use the parameter showauthors=1 to display the page author’s name beside each permalinked title that the wp_list_pages function generates.

For example, the following string would generate a list of page 100’s children without a list heading:

<?php wp_list_pages( 'title_li=&child_of=100' ); ?>

That is, something like the following, per a given site’s CSS, of course:

Adding the showauthors=1 parameter to the string:

<?php wp_list_pages( 'title_li=&child_of=100&showauthors=1' ); ?>

… would generate something like the following, including commas (“,”):

If, for some reason, a developer wanted to temporarily disable the parameter in a particular string/list, s/he would simply set showauthors to "0" (e.g., showauthors=0).

Developer Notes
Assuming (a) most developers want to drive traffic to site pages, vs. author pages, and (b) links to author pages will appear on these site pages, the names appear unpermalinked.

Additionally, even with the plugin installed and the showauthors=1 parameter enabled, all lists will be organized per pages rather than per authors. Alphabetically ordering a list by ascending post_title (that is, sort_order =ASC&sort_column=post_title) — the default method — will result in a list like the following, regardless of author name:

As demand warrants, future builds may include these additional functionalities.

Discussion & Support
For plugin support, feedback, and troubleshooting, visit this link or click the “Feedback” tab on the left-hand side of your browser window. To learn about other Studio Hyperset WordPress plugins, click here. To learn about other Studio Hyperset code projects, click here.

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Quimby Melton

Founder/President

Quimby is the founder and president of Studio Hyperset. He started Studio Hyperset in 2006 after studying Transatlantic literature and culture, new media, and humanities computing at the Universities of Georgia (AB, 00) and Nevada, Las Vegas (MA, 03; PhD, 08). He has a background in literary studies, media production, front-end development, and project management. His current primary duties involve helping clients frame solutions that meet their needs; scoping and managing Studio Hyperset's growth strategy and business development pipeline; finding and developing talent; and, most importantly, supporting the SH team.