Displaying an incrementing number next to each published post

Would that be simply numbers that increment per archive listing? If yes, why not add a simple counter, set it to zero before the Loop, increment it immediately after the Loop starts and then display it on the page as required?

this is how i implemented it into my blog a few months ago; first time, it will automatically create a custom field ‘incr_number’ for every published post, and update the value every time any post is deleted, updated, or published.

add this snippet to functions.php of your theme:

function updateNumbers() {
/* numbering the published posts: preparation: create an array with the ID in sequence of publication date, /
/ save the number in custom field 'incr_number' of post with ID  /
/ to show in post (within the loop) use <?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID,'incr_number',true); ?>
/ alchymyth 2010 */
global $wpdb;
$querystr = "SELECT $wpdb->posts.* FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE $wpdb->posts.post_status = 'publish' AND $wpdb->posts.post_type = 'post' ";
$pageposts = $wpdb->get_results($querystr, OBJECT);
$counts = 0 ;
if ($pageposts):
foreach ($pageposts as $post):
setup_postdata($post);
$counts++;
add_post_meta($post->ID, 'incr_number', $counts, true);
update_post_meta($post->ID, 'incr_number', $counts);
endforeach;
endif;
}  

add_action ( 'publish_post', 'updateNumbers' );
add_action ( 'deleted_post', 'updateNumbers' );
add_action ( 'edit_post', 'updateNumbers' );

to show it next to your post, use:
<?php echo get_post_meta($post->ID,'incr_number',true); ?>

Thanks, alchymyth. I’ll give it a try shortly and resolve this thread if it works like a charm ??

Amazing! Thanks so much. Exactly what I was looking for.

This would be great, but it doesn’t appear to work in WordPress 3.0.1. Any ideas?

continuos post numbers – it only activates when you create/edit/delete a post for the first time after adding the code.

[solved]

Ok, not solved after all ?? : Strangely enough, the function only counts up to 5 on my installation, then starting again at 1. I’m dumbstruck by this, pls help.

function updateNumbers() { 

                        $totalposts = get_posts('category_name=folio&post_type=post&posts_per_page=-1&orderby=date&order=DESC');

                       $counts = 0;
                       if ($totalposts) :
                           foreach ($totalposts as $totalpost) :
                               setup_postdata($totalpost);
                                $counts++;
                                add_post_meta($totalpost->ID, 'incr_number', $counts, true);
                                update_post_meta($totalpost->ID, 'incr_number', $counts);

                               endforeach;
                           endif;

                           wp_reset_query();

                        }

this has to do with the ‘posts_per_page’ parameter
– even if the codex states that ‘get_posts()’ takes the same parameters as query_posts()
– ‘posts_per_page’ is the one parameter that does not work –

use ‘numberposts’ instead.