Feature Request: Add Filter to Disable remove_page_number()

[kristaleemcphee]

We're running into an issue with pagination on a custom archive page (/news/press/page/2) where the page number is being stripped from the URL, which breaks the pagination functionality.

After reviewing the code, it looks like this line in includes/class-custom-permalinks-frontend.php (around line 727) is the source of the behavior:

$request = $this->remove_page_number( $request );

We’d like to request a filter be added to optionally disable this line, something like:

if ( ! apply_filters( 'custom_permalinks_disable_remove_page_number', false ) ) {
    $request = $this->remove_page_number( $request );
}

• It keeps the current functionality intact for most users
• It gives developers flexibility in edge cases (like custom archive pagination)
• It’s a low-maintenance solution and would allow us to continue using the plugin without modifying core files

Please let me know if this is something you’d be open to adding.

[samiahmedsiddiqui]

@kristaleemcphee Thank you for looking into the code and offering your suggestion. Can you please provide an example of the issue? I am interested to fix it, but instead of using a filter (which might not be ideal for all users), I would prefer to find a more applicable solution.

[kristaleemcphee]

Hi there,

Thanks for the quick reply.

Here’s what we’re seeing:
URL:
Screen recording:

When you click to page 2, the URL updates correctly, but the page still shows the same set of posts from page 1—pagination doesn’t advance.

We isolated the issue to this line in the plugin:
$request = $this->remove_page_number( $request );

Rolling back to the previous version of the plugin resolves the issue - we currently have the plugin running the previous version to restore the pagination for now.

[kristaleemcphee]

Hi there, just following up on this thread.

We’re still seeing the pagination issue on custom archive pages, so we’ve kept the previous plugin version live for now to avoid breaking the layout.

Let me know if you’ve had a chance to review or if there’s any additional info we can provide to help move this forward.

Thanks again!

[samiahmedsiddiqui]

@kristaleemcphee Can you please share the URL? It looks like it might have been missed in your comment.

[artur-stepien]

I have the same issue. Why to remove the page number from pagination at all? Whats the point?

[kristaleemcphee]

The issue isn’t showing on the live site right now because we temporarily rolled back the plugin to restore proper pagination.

Here’s a screen recording of the issue before the rollback: https://share.cleanshot.com/nvMY9qcC

[kristalmmcphee]

Do we have an update on this?

[samiahmedsiddiqui]

@kristaleemcphee Thanks for sending over the video of the issue. I have tried to replicate it on my end, but the pagination seems to be working fine for me on both default WordPress archive pages and custom page templates.

@kristaleemcphee @kristalmmcphee Would it be possible to provide me with access to one of your staging websites? That would really help me debug and fix this issue directly. You can connect with me on LinkedIn to share the details.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sami-ahmed-siddiqui/