WP Tag Order

Order tags independently in each posts (not site-globally) on WordPress with simple Drag-and-Drop ↕︎ sortable feature.

Important

This plugin is NOT compatible with Gutenberg on WordPress 5.x. Consider using Classic Editor Plugin.

Important

Mutation events will no longer be supported in Google Chrome and Edge in July 2024 (Google Chrome on July 23, 2024, and Microsoft Edge the week of July 25, 2024). As a result, WP Tag Order versions 3.6.0 or less will not work with Chrome v127 and later, which will be released on July 23, 2024.
You have to update to v3.7.0 or later.
See Chrome for Developers Blog for more details.
If you still need PHP7 support, see Troubleshooting below.

Features

• 🏷️ Custom tag ordering for posts
• 🔍 Works with default WordPress tag and custom taxonomy systems
• 🔢 Drag-and-Drop interface for easy tag reordering
• 📊 Supports multiple post types and taxonomies
• 🔧 NEW: Programmatic Tag Order Management
• 🌐 NEW: REST API Support
  • Retrieve ordered tags via GET endpoint
  • Update tag order programmatically
  • Supports authentication and permissions
• 🚀 Lightweight and performance-optimized

Get Started

1. Clone this Repo into your wp-content/plugins directory.

cd /path-to-your/wp-content/plugins
git clone git@github.com:sectsect/wp-tag-order.git

2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins menu in WordPress.
3. Go to Settings -> WP Tag Order page to select which taxonomies to enable ordering for.

Notes

• When creating a new post, you need to save it once to enable tag ordering.
• To apply ordering to existing posts, "Add and Remove" any tag once.
• To bulk-update multiple posts at once, go to Settings -> WP Tag Order page and click 'Apply' under the Advanced Settings.

• Tested on WordPress v6.3.1.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.6+
• PHP 8.0+

APIs

Function	Description
get_the_tags_ordered()	Based on get_the_tags() - Codex
get_the_terms_ordered()	Based on get_the_terms() - Codex
get_the_tag_list_ordered()	Based on get_the_tag_list() - Codex
get_the_term_list_ordered()	Based on get_the_term_list() - Codex
the_tags_ordered()	Based on the_tags() - Codex
the_terms_ordered()	Based on the_terms() - Codex

Usage Example

get_the_tags_ordered()

<?php$terms = get_the_tags_ordered();
if ( $terms && ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ) :
?>
<ul>
<?phpforeach ( $termsas$term ) : ?>
<li>
<a href="<?phpechoget_term_link( $term->slug, 'post_tag' ); ?>">
<?phpecho$term->name; ?>
</a>
</li>
<?phpendforeach; ?>
</ul>
<?phpendif; ?>

get_the_terms_ordered()

<?php$terms = get_the_terms_ordered( $post->ID, 'post_tag' );
if ( $terms && ! is_wp_error( $terms ) ) :
?>
<ul>
<?phpforeach ( $termsas$term ) : ?>
<li>
<a href="<?phpechoget_term_link( $term->slug, 'post_tag' ); ?>">
<?phpecho$term->name; ?>
</a>
</li>
<?phpendforeach; ?>
</ul>
<?phpendif; ?>

get_the_tag_list_ordered()

<?phpechoget_the_tag_list_ordered(); ?>

get_the_term_list_ordered()

<?phpechoget_the_term_list_ordered( $post->ID, 'post_tag' ); ?>

the_tags_ordered()

<?phpthe_tags_ordered(); ?>

the_terms_ordered()

<?phpthe_terms_ordered( $post->ID, 'post_tag' ); ?>

Programmatic Tag Order Management

The plugin provides a Tag_Updater class for developers to programmatically manage tag order:

$tag_updater = new \WP_Tag_Order\Tag_Updater();
try {
// Update tag order using an array or comma-separated string$result = $tag_updater->update_tag_order(
get_the_ID(), // Post ID'post_tag', // Taxonomy that enabled in plugin settings
[1, 2, 3] // Tag IDs in desired order
);
} catch ( \InvalidArgumentException$e ) {
// Error handlingerror_log( $e->getMessage() );
}

This class allows flexible tag order updates directly from your theme or custom plugin code, supporting both array and string inputs with robust validation.

Return Value

update_tag_order() returns: int|bool

• int: Meta ID if the tag order meta key didn't previously exist
• true: Successful update of existing meta
• false: Update failed or the new tag order is identical to the existing order

REST API

The WP Tag Order plugin provides two REST API endpoints for managing tag order:

Get Tag Order

• Endpoint: /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/{post_id}
• Method: GET
• Parameters:
  • post_id (required): The ID of the post
  • taxonomy (optional): Taxonomy name (defaults to 'post_tag')
• Permissions: Publicly accessible
• Response: Array of ordered tags with full term details

Example Request

GET /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/123

w/ cURL

curl --location 'https://your-wordpress-site.com/wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/123'

Update Tag Order

• Endpoint: /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/{post_id}
• Method: PUT or PATCH
• Parameters:
  • post_id (required): The ID of the post
  • taxonomy (required): Taxonomy name
  • tags (required): Comma-separated list of tag IDs in desired order
• Permissions: Requires user authentication and post edit capabilities
• Response: Success status and message

Example Request

PUT /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/123
{
"taxonomy": "post_tag",
"tags": "5,3,1,4,2"
}

w/ cURL

curl --location --request PUT 'https://your-wordpress-site.com/wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/tags/order/123' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN' \
--data '{ "taxonomy": "post_tag", "tags": "5,3,1,4,2"}'

Example Response

{
"success": true,
"code": "tags_order_updated",
"message": "Tag order updated successfully.",
"data": {
"status": 200,
"post_id": 123,
"taxonomy": "post_tag",
"tags": [
5,
3,
1,
4,
2
]
}
}

Get Enabled Taxonomies

• Endpoint: /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/taxonomies/enabled
• Method: GET
• Parameters: None
• Permissions: Publicly accessible
• Response: Array of enabled taxonomies with metadata

Example Request

GET /wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/taxonomies/enabled

w/ cURL

curl --location 'https://your-wordpress-site.com/wp-json/wp-tag-order/v1/taxonomies/enabled'

Example Response

{
"enabled_taxonomies": [
"post_tag",
"product_tag"
],
"available_taxonomies": [
"post_tag",
"product_tag",
"event_tag"
],
"meta": {
"enabled_count": 2,
"available_count": 3,
"timestamp": "2025-09-23T04:58:23+00:00"
}
}

Authentication

• GET requests are publicly accessible
• PUT/PATCH requests require:
  • User to be logged in
  • User to have edit permissions for the specific post
  • Post must be of an allowed type (default: 'post' or 'page')

For Developers

• The ordered tag data is serialized and stored in the wp_postmeta table under keys like wp-tag-order-{taxonomy}.

  meta_id	post_id	meta_key	meta_value
  19	7	wp-tag-order-post_tag	s:91:"a:7:{i:0;s:1:"7";i:1;s:1:"5";i:2;s:2:"10";i:3;s:1:"4";i:4;s:1:"6";i:5;s:1:"8";i:6;s:1:"9";}";

• This Plugin does not hosting on the wordpress.org repo in order to prevent a flood of support requests from wide audience. Your feedback is welcome.

Troubleshooting

Still need support for PHP 7.

I have a branch php7 to support PHP 7 and End-of-Life for JaveScript Mutation events.
The branch will not be maintained anymore, so I recommend you migrate to PHP 8.

Change log

See CHANGELOG file.

License

See LICENSE file.

✌️

_{^{A little project by @sectsect}}