---
title: Randomizing Posts in WordPress
url: "https://pressable.com/knowledgebase/randomizing-posts/"
published: 2021-02-08
modified: 2025-09-11
author: Wayne McWilliams
---

Because query results end up cached in the object cache, it is difficult to use[ ‘orderby’=>’rand’](https://carriedils.com/wordpress-orderby-rand-and-wp-engine/) in a query. The first randomized result will then be cached and returned on each page reload until the cache is cleared. The solution to randomizing posts in WordPress is to add a filter to the theme’s functions.php file:

```
add_filter( 'the_posts', function( $posts, \WP_Query $query )
{
    if( $random = $query->get( 'pressable_random_posts' ) )
    {
        shuffle( $posts );
        $posts = array_slice( $posts, 0, (int) $random );
    }
    return $posts;
}, 10, 2 );
```

And then to the query add:

```
'pressable_random_posts' => 3

```

With 3 being the number of items you wish to display.

An example of a modified query:

```
$custom_args = array(
'post_type'      => 'products',

'post_status'    => 'publish',

'posts_per_page' => 20,

'orderby'        => 'rand',

'no_found_rows'  => true,

'pressable_random_posts' => 3

);
```

To apply a filter to a query without modifying the query directly, to your funtions.php file you can do something similar to:

```
function pressable_apply_filter_automatically($query) {

   if ( is_front_page()  &&  in_array ( $query->get('post_type'), array('products') ) ) {
       $query->set('pressable_random_posts', 3);
   }
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'pressable_apply_filter_automatically' );
```