function my_post_queries( $query ) { // not an admin page and it is the main query if (!is_admin() && $query->is_main_query()){ // query for the home page if(is_home()){ $first_page_total= 9; // total number of posts on first page $paginated_total = 10; // total number of posts on paginated pages $posts_to_skip = $paginated_total - $first_page_total; // pagination for custom page(s) if ( get_query_var('paged') ) { $paged = get_query_var('paged'); } elseif ( get_query_var('page') ) { $paged = get_query_var('page'); } else { $paged = 1; } // page query args $query->set('posts_per_page', $first_page_total); $query->set('post__not_in', get_option( 'sticky_posts' )); if(is_paged()) { // paginated query args $offset = (($paged - 1) * $paginated_total)- $posts_to_skip; $query->set('offset', $offset); $query->set('posts_per_page', $paginated_total); } } } } add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_post_queries' );