# Year Headings in Blog and Archive Lists

> Inserts a year heading such as "2024" between posts whenever the year changes on blog and archive pages, making long date-ordered lists easier to scan.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Run everywhere
- Category: [Archives](https://wpide.com/library/category/archive/)
- Tags: archives, dates, headings
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/year-headings-in-post-lists/

## Code

```php
// Heading level used for the year dividers.
$wpide_year_heading_tag = 'h2';

add_action( 'the_post', function ( $post, $query ) use ( $wpide_year_heading_tag ) {
    static $last = null;

    // Classic themes only; lists in date order only (blog, category, tag and other archives).
    if ( wp_is_block_theme() || is_admin() || ! $query->is_main_query() || ! ( $query->is_home() || $query->is_archive() ) || $query->is_year() || ! in_array( $query->get( 'orderby' ), array( '', 'date', 'post_date' ), true ) || ! in_the_loop() ) {
        return;
    }

    $year = get_the_date( 'Y', $post );

    if ( $year === $last ) {
        return;
    }

    // No divider above the first post on the first page when it is from the current year.
    $show = null !== $last || $query->is_paged() || wp_date( 'Y' ) !== $year;
    $last = $year;

    if ( $show ) {
        $tag = in_array( $wpide_year_heading_tag, array( 'h2', 'h3', 'h4', 'p' ), true ) ? $wpide_year_heading_tag : 'h2';

        echo '<' . $tag . ' class="wpide-year-divider" style="margin:2em 0 1em;padding-bottom:.25em;border-bottom:1px solid rgba(127,127,127,.35);font-size:1.25em;">' . esc_html( $year ) . '</' . $tag . '>'; // phpcs:ignore WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput -- tag from a fixed list.
    }
}, 10, 2 );
```

## Notes

For classic themes; lists sorted by something other than date get no headings.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Year Headings in Blog and Archive Lists" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/