pagination on custom post wp_query

There are 3 ways that I would suggest for pagination with a custom post wp_query. Unfortunately to this day there isn't a lot of good information about this out there, or at least what is out there is unclear in some cases. Hopefully this helps!

Note, you also did have the wp_reset_postdata() in the wrong place, but even still more is needed to get it to work correctly.

Option 1 - use max_num_pages variable

<?php    $paged = (get_query_var('paged')) ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;    $args = array(         'posts_per_page' => 1,         'paged' => $paged,         'post_type' => 'cpt_type'    );    $cpt_query = new WP_Query($args);?><?php if ($cpt_query->have_posts()) : while ($cpt_query->have_posts()) : $cpt_query->the_post(); ?>    //Loop Code Here...<?php endwhile; endif; ?><nav>    <ul>        <li><?php previous_posts_link( '« PREV', $cpt_query->max_num_pages) ?></li>         <li><?php next_posts_link( 'NEXT »', $cpt_query->max_num_pages) ?></li>    </ul></nav>

You'll see above, a slightly different format for previous_posts_link and next_posts_link which now access the max_num_pages variable. Be sure to use your own query variable name when accessing max_num_pages. Notice I use $cpt_query since that is the variable for my query example.

Option 2 - temporarily use the $wp_query variable for your loop query

This is what a lot of folks recommend, but be careful to asign the $wp_query variable to a temp variable and re-assign it or you will run in to all kinds of troubles. Which is why I recommend Option #1. As noted on CSS Tricks, you can do something like this:

<?php   $temp = $wp_query;   $wp_query = null;   $wp_query = new WP_Query();   $wp_query->query('showposts=6&post_type=news'.'&paged='.$paged);   while ($wp_query->have_posts()) : $wp_query->the_post(); ?>  <!-- LOOP: Usual Post Template Stuff Here--><?php endwhile; ?><nav>    <?php previous_posts_link('« Newer') ?>    <?php next_posts_link('Older »') ?></nav><?php   $wp_query = null;   $wp_query = $temp;  // Reset?>

Option 3 - use WP-pagenavi plugin

Just as another option what you can do instead is use the WP-pagenavi plugin, and setup your query as in Option #1. But make one change in the code, remove everything within the element and replace with this function, once you have installed the plugin. So you'll end with:

<nav>    <?php wp_pagenavi( array( 'query' => $cpt_query ) ); ?></nav>

I think you put <?php wp_reset_query(); ?> in the wrong place.. shouldn't it be next or after pagination codes?

something like this

<?php endwhile; ?><?php else: ?><?php wp_reset_query(); ?>

This question was answered very adequately by @Trevor but I needed to implement numbered pagination, and there was a bit more research to do. I hope my code helps others implement numbered pagination.

    <div class="frontpage-posts">        <?php        if (get_query_var('paged')) {          $paged = get_query_var('paged');        } elseif (get_query_var('page')) {          $paged = get_query_var('page');        } else {          $paged = 1;        }        $temp = $wp_query;        $wp_query = null;        $wp_query = new WP_Query('posts_per_page=12&paged=' . $paged);        if ($wp_query->have_posts()) :          while ($wp_query->have_posts()) : $wp_query->the_post();            echo the_title();          endwhile; ?>          <nav>            <?php            the_posts_pagination(array(              'mid_size'  => 2,              'prev_text' => __('Back', 'textdomain'),              'next_text' => __('Onward', 'textdomain'),            ));            ?>          </nav>        <?php          $wp_query = null;          $wp_query = $temp;          wp_reset_postdata();        endif;        ?>      </div>