Automatically keep your numbered lists in articles displaying the correct number by using this shortcode [auto-list-number].

AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles

Easily keep your listicles with numbered lists updated correctly by using this plugin&#8217;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 &#8220;top 10 lists&#8221;. This will allow you to easily add items to your lists or move elements around without worrying about updating headings with the correct numbers.
<h4>Shortcode Usage examples</h4>
Basic usage
<pre><code>[auto-list-number] Item one.
[auto-list-number] Item two.
[auto-list-number] Item three.
</code></pre>
Countdown example (for &#8220;Top 10&#8221; style lists)
<pre><code>[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)
</code></pre>
Position display example
<pre><code>[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")
</code></pre>
Custom start number (for multi-part articles)
<pre><code>[auto-list-number start="11"] This displays 11
[auto-list-number] This displays 12
[auto-list-number] This displays 13
</code></pre>
Number formats
<pre><code>[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...
</code></pre>
Before and after text
<pre><code>[auto-list-number before="#" after=":"] Displays "#1:"
[auto-list-number before="Step_" after="_-"] Displays "Step 2 -"
</code></pre>
Note: Use underscore (_) for spaces in before/after attributes since WordPress trims spaces.
Extended example using all shortcode functions.
<pre><code>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.
</code></pre>
<h4>Shortcode Options</h4>
<ul>
<li>name (Default: &#8220;default&#8221;) If your article has multiple lists this will keep track of multiple numbers. If a name isn&#8217;t set it will just use the list name of &#8220;default&#8221;. 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.</li>
<li>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 &#8220;auto-list-number&#8221;. This can be helpful if you want to style list numbers separately from your headings.</li>
<li>before (Default: &#8220;&#8221;) Text to display before the number. Great for prefixes like &#8220;#&#8221; or &#8220;Step_&#8221; (use underscore for spaces, e.g., before=&#8221;Step_&#8221; displays &#8220;Step 1&#8221;).</li>
<li>after (Default: &#8220;.&#8221;) 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=&#8221;_-&#8221; displays &#8221; -&#8220;).</li>
<li>start (Default: 1) Set a custom starting number. Perfect for multi-part articles where Part 2 should start at number 11 instead of 1.</li>
<li>format (Default: null) Change the number format. Options:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;roman&#8221; &#8211; Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V&#8230;)</li>
<li>&#8220;alpha&#8221; &#8211; Alphabetic letters (A, B, C, D&#8230; Z, AA, AB&#8230;)</li>
<li>&#8220;padded&#8221; &#8211; Zero-padded numbers (01, 02, 03&#8230;)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>display (Default: &#8220;increase&#8221;) Controls how the number is displayed. Options:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;increase&#8221; &#8211; Default behavior, counts up (1, 2, 3&#8230;)</li>
<li>&#8220;countdown&#8221; &#8211; Counts down from total (10, 9, 8&#8230;) &#8211; perfect for &#8220;Top 10&#8221; style lists</li>
<li>&#8220;total&#8221; &#8211; Displays the total count of items</li>
<li>&#8220;position&#8221; &#8211; Displays &#8220;X of Y&#8221; format (e.g., &#8220;3 of 10&#8221;)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>Troubleshooting</h4>
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&#8217;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.

Alternative Plugins for

Discover the Lists with AutoListicle: Automatically Update Numbered List Articles