Title: AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles Author: Andy Feliciotti Published: July 26, 2019 Last modified: January 12, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/assets/ banner-772x250.jpg?rev=2486198) ![](https://ps.w.org/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/assets/ icon-256x256.png?rev=2486198) # AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles By [Andy Feliciotti](https://profiles.wordpress.org/someguy9/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles.1.3.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/) ## Description Easily keep your listicles with numbered lists updated correctly by using this plugin’s shortcode [auto-list-number]. This will display the number 1 and increment with ever use. Perfect if you write blog posts with steps or “top 10 lists”. This will allow you to easily add items to your lists or move elements around without worrying about updating headings with the correct numbers. #### Shortcode Usage examples Basic usage ``` [auto-list-number] Item one. [auto-list-number] Item two. [auto-list-number] Item three. ``` Countdown example (for “Top 10” style lists) ``` [auto-list-number display="countdown"] Best item (displays 3) [auto-list-number display="countdown"] Second best (displays 2) [auto-list-number display="countdown"] Third best (displays 1) ``` Position display example ``` [auto-list-number display="position"] First item (displays "1 of 3") [auto-list-number display="position"] Second item (displays "2 of 3") [auto-list-number display="position"] Third item (displays "3 of 3") ``` Custom start number (for multi-part articles) ``` [auto-list-number start="11"] This displays 11 [auto-list-number] This displays 12 [auto-list-number] This displays 13 ``` Number formats ``` [auto-list-number format="roman"] Displays I, II, III, IV... [auto-list-number format="alpha"] Displays A, B, C, D... [auto-list-number format="padded"] Displays 01, 02, 03... ``` Before and after text ``` [auto-list-number before="#" after=":"] Displays "#1:" [auto-list-number before="Step_" after="_-"] Displays "Step 2 -" ``` Note: Use underscore (_) for spaces in before/after attributes since WordPress trims spaces. Extended example using all shortcode functions. ``` Here is my list of [auto-list-number display="total"] items. [auto-list-number] Here is the first item in the list. [auto-list-number] Make long listicles with ease. [auto-list-number] You can even have multiple lists in one article. [auto-list-number name="my-new-list" after=":" wrapper="span"] My new list (this will start at number one). [auto-list-number name="my-new-list" after=":" wrapper="span"] This will be a second item. [auto-list-number] This item will be number 4. ``` #### Shortcode Options * **name** (Default: “default”) If your article has multiple lists this will keep track of multiple numbers. If a name isn’t set it will just use the list name of “default”. But if you have multiple numbered lists you want to keep track of you can use a unique name for each list in your article. * **wrapper** (Default: null) Great if you want to wrap each number with a span, div or any html tag. By default the wrapper will include the class “auto-list- number”. This can be helpful if you want to style list numbers separately from your headings. * **before** (Default: “”) Text to display before the number. Great for prefixes like “#” or “Step_” (use underscore for spaces, e.g., before=”Step_” displays“ Step 1”). * **after** (Default: “.”) After a number is displayed a period will be displayed by default. This option is great if you want to change this to a colon or remove it all together. Use underscore for spaces (e.g., after=”_-” displays ” -“). * **start** (Default: 1) Set a custom starting number. Perfect for multi-part articles where Part 2 should start at number 11 instead of 1. * **format** (Default: null) Change the number format. Options: - “roman” – Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V…) - “alpha” – Alphabetic letters (A, B, C, D… Z, AA, AB…) - “padded” – Zero-padded numbers (01, 02, 03…) * **display** (Default: “increase”) Controls how the number is displayed. Options: - “increase” – Default behavior, counts up (1, 2, 3…) - “countdown” – Counts down from total (10, 9, 8…) – perfect for “Top 10” style lists - “total” – Displays the total count of items - “position” – Displays “X of Y” format (e.g., “3 of 10”) #### Troubleshooting If you are having trouble with a table of contents plugin you can use the [auto- list-number-force-reset] shortcode to reset your post’s numbers. So ideally if your table of contents was at the top of your post you can put [auto-list-number-force- reset] below it so that all headings are reset to start at 1 again. This way the ToC plugin will loop through 1-4 for example then reset then the headlines can display 1-4 again. ## Screenshots [⌊Example of what the shortcode does.⌉⌊Example of what the shortcode does.⌉[ Example of what the shortcode does. ## Installation To install this plugin: 1. Download the plugin 2. Upload the plugin to the wp-content/plugins directory, 3. Go to “plugins” in your WordPress admin, then click activate. 4. Add the shortcode [auto-list-number] where you want auto incrementing numbers in your articles (recommended use in headings). ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d693971a992ae00d15f3f584c3777a8557e282a97e13207243490d2a412bfce7? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Such a Handy Plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/such-a-handy-plugin-2/)󠁿 [pyoil](https://profiles.wordpress.org/pyoil/) August 25, 2022 1 reply Such a Handy Plugin. Great for managing large lists. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/84f356f056993c65bcafdc8b94839c7d31c6548514b00495d44bff36258493b9? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Makes life more easy](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/makes-life-more-easy/)󠁿 [Jimsonn](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jimsonn/) August 1, 2022 1 reply Great plugin and quick and helpful support from the creator. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/7654e38f73f5edd5eb1fc01e12653e6b69bcb62713cdd5e79201aeb43e5d9d1f? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Great plugin saved a lot of time](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-saved-a-lot-of-time/)󠁿 [onsecrethunt](https://profiles.wordpress.org/onsecrethunt/) July 30, 2021 Amazing plugin with great concept. Saves a lot of time. Now don’t have to type list numbers everytime while creating a large number list of article. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/525c8a6d4dd3cb9767cbf959c0cb68d18c04c7b070f81bad41064adb4abcd5ce? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Wonderful plugin!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wonderful-plugin-488/)󠁿 [aeholm](https://profiles.wordpress.org/aeholm/) October 4, 2019 1 reply Such a wonderful and useful simple plugin! Made things so much faster and easier when creating & updating numbered lists. 🙂 ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4bd020eac2cb9cb1e6f465716bcceda63aff35fee8ec0e1196e53c0da96dbef5? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[easiest way to handle ordered lists](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/easiest-way-to-handle-ordered-lists/)󠁿 [dmeola](https://profiles.wordpress.org/dmeola/) August 1, 2019 Included options make it easy to customize numbered lists without needing to know or update HTML and CSS ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5c8f0880b104c6acfa0f0f9ffc9fc5733eda817ae78f89ab07387328bf47e777? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Saves a ton of time updating long lists](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/saves-a-ton-of-time-updating-long-lists/)󠁿 [Ryan Robinson](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ryrob/) August 1, 2019 I have a TON of long listicle style articles on my blog, and whenever I have to update one of those lists (often over 100+ items), I wind up spending a ridiculous amount of time just re-numbering the content after I make changes. AutoListicle is my new savior for this, ha! [ Read all 6 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Andy Feliciotti ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/someguy9/) [Translate “AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.3 * New feature: Countdown/descending numbers using display=”countdown” – perfect for “Top 10” style lists. * New feature: Position display using display=”position” – shows “X of Y” format. * New feature: Custom start number using start=”11″ – great for multi-part articles. * New feature: Number formats using format=”roman”, format=”alpha”, or format=” padded”. * New feature: Before text using before=”#” or before=”Step “. * Fixed PHP warnings and potential errors in total count calculation. * Improved performance when calculating totals. * Tested up to WordPress 6.9. #### 1.2.3 * Tested up to WordPress 6.3. #### 1.2.2 * Tested up to WordPress 6.0. * Added support for capitalized shortcode. * PHP warning bug fix. #### 1.2.1 * PHP warning bug fix. #### 1.2.0 * Bug fixes for Table of Contents plugins, mainly by reseting the numbers each time the_content is called and the addition of the [auto-list-number-force-reset] shortcode. #### 1.1.4 * Tested up to WordPress 5.9 * PHP warning fix #### 1.1.3 * Tested up to WordPress 5.7 #### 1.1.2 * Tested up to WordPress 5.4 #### 1.1.1 * Bug fix from previous release #### 1.1.0 * Ability to display the total of a specific number in your list using [auto-list- number display=”total”]. #### 1.0.0 * Initial Release. ## Meta * Version **1.3** * Last updated **6 months ago** * Active installations **60+** * WordPress version ** 4.0.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **6.9.4** * PHP version ** 7.0 or higher ** * Tags * [listicle](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/listicle/)[numbered list](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/numbered-list/) [shortcode](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/shortcode/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/advanced/) ## Ratings 5 out of 5 stars. * [ 6 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/?filter=1) [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Andy Feliciotti ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/someguy9/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/autolisticle-automatically-update-numbered-list-articles/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/someguy)