Have different number of posts on first page

Question

I need to have a different amount of posts per page on the first page that on the other pages.

For example, this is what I need

• Total posts: 6
• First page: showing 3 posts
• Following page: showing 2 posts per page

Here's my code:

$paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;

$fp_limit = 3; // first page limit
$limit = 2; // following page limit
$offset = 0; // default offset

if( $paged == 1 ) {
    $limit = $fp_limit;
} else {
    $offset = $fp_limit + ( ($paged - 2) * $limit );
}

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'my_post_type',
    'post_status' => 'publish',
    'offset' => $offset,
    'posts_per_page' => $limit,
    'caller_ get_ posts' => -1, // remove sticky post
    'paged' => $paged,
    'tax_query' => array(
        array(
            'taxonomy' => 'my_taxo',
            'field' => 'slug',
            'terms' => array('slug1', 'slug2', 'slug3')
        )
    )
);
$my_query = null;
$my_query = new WP_Query($args);

// basic loop
if( $my_query->have_posts() ) : 
while ($my_query->have_posts()) : $my_query->the_post();

...

endwhile; endif; // archive loop
if (function_exists('wp_pagenavi')){ wp_pagenavi( array( 'query' => $my_query ) ); }

wp_reset_query();

At first page in archive, this code assumes:

Well, 6 posts total and 3 posts per page. So I need 2 archive pages and the pagination I present to you is:

[1] [2]

However, any other page in archive the code assumes:

Well, 6 posts total and 2 posts per page. So I need 3 archive pages and the pagination I present to you is:

[1] [2] [3]

Need a little help to fix this.

Answer 1

EDIT - ANSWER REVISITED

I've being working on another solution which is actually better the original answer. This does not involve any custom query and I think for all purposes my original answer can be dropped but kept for informational purposes

I still believe you are on the homepage and will also treat this as such. So this is my new solution

STEP 1

Remove the custom query from the homepage and replace it with the default loop

<?php

        if ( have_posts() ) :
            // Start the Loop.
            while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();

                ///<---YOUR LOOP--->

            endwhile;

                //<---YOUR PAGINATION--->   

            else : 

                //NO POSTS FOUND OR SOMETHING   

            endif; 

    ?>

STEP 2

Use pre_get_posts to alter the main query to add your custom taxonomy to the main query to display on the home page.

STEP 3

Now, get the posts_per_page option set from the back end (which I assume is 2) and also set your offset which we are going to use. That will be 1 as you will need 3 posts on page one and 2 on the rest

$ppg = get_option('posts_per_page');
$offset = 1;

STEP 4

On page one, you'll need to add the offset to posts_per_page will add up to 3 to get your three posts on page one.

$query->set('posts_per_page', $offset + $ppp);

STEP 5

You must apply your offset to all subsequent pages, otherwise you will get a repetition of the last post of the page on the next page

$offset = $offset + ( ($query->query_vars['paged']-1) * $ppp );
$query->set('posts_per_page',$ppp);
$query->set('offset',$offset); 

STEP 6

Lastly, you need to subtract your offset from found_posts otherwise your pagination on the last page will be wrong and give you a 404 error as the last post will be missing due to the incorrect post count

NOTE: This piece of code broke pagination on the search page. This is now fixed, see the updated code

function homepage_offset_pagination( $found_posts, $query ) {
    $offset = 1;

    if( $query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query() ) {
        $found_posts = $found_posts - $offset;
    }
    return $found_posts;
}
add_filter( 'found_posts', 'homepage_offset_pagination', 10, 2 );

ALL TOGETHER

This is how your complete query will look like that should go into functions.php

function tax_and_offset_homepage( $query ) {
  if ($query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query() && !is_admin()) {
    $query->set( 'post_type', 'my_post_type' );
    $query->set( 'post_status', 'publish' );
    $query->set( 'ignore_sticky_posts', '-1' );
    $tax_query = array(
        array(
            'taxonomy' => 'my_taxo',
            'field' => 'slug',
            'terms' => array('slug1', 'slug2', 'slug3')
        )
    );
    $query->set( 'tax_query', $tax_query );
    $ppp = get_option('posts_per_page');
    $offset = 1;
    if (!$query->is_paged()) {
      $query->set('posts_per_page',$offset + $ppp);
    } else {
      $offset = $offset + ( ($query->query_vars['paged']-1) * $ppp );
      $query->set('posts_per_page',$ppp);
      $query->set('offset',$offset);
    }
  }
}
add_action('pre_get_posts','tax_and_offset_homepage');

function homepage_offset_pagination( $found_posts, $query ) {
    $offset = 1;

    if( $query->is_home() && $query->is_main_query() ) {
        $found_posts = $found_posts - $offset;
    }
    return $found_posts;
}
add_filter( 'found_posts', 'homepage_offset_pagination', 10, 2 );

Answer 2

I know this is from 1000 years ago, but another solution for anyone else looking for this solution while using a custom query, here is how to do it. In this example the 1st page needed 10 posts and every subsequent page needs 9.

$paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
if( $paged == 1 ) {
   $limit = 10;
} else {
   $limit = 9;
}

and then in the array use this:

'posts_per_page' => $limit,

Now you're good to go.

Answer 3

Kiel was really close. I needed 3 on the front page, 12 on subsequent pages, this is where I landed:

<?php 
$paged = ( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) ? absint( get_query_var( 'paged' ) ) : 1;
$current_cat = get_category($cat);

$limit = 12; // Set the posts limit on all the pages but the first
$offset = 3; // Set this to the number of posts on the first page

if( $paged == 1 ) {
   $offset = 0; // No offset on the first page
   $limit = 3; // Number of posts on the front
} else {
   $offset = (($paged - 2) * $limit) + $offset; // The magic happens here
}

$args = array(
    'post_type' => 'post',
    'category_name' => $current_cat->slug,
    'paged' => $paged,
    'offset' => $offset,
    'posts_per_page' => $limit,
    'orderby' => 'date',
    'order' => 'DESC',
);
?>