number of posts per page + random + exclude categories
pre_get_posts in your child themes functions file is the best in my opinion. add_action( ‘pre_get_posts’, ‘wpsites_custom_get_posts’ ); function wpsites_custom_get_posts( $query ) { if( $query->is_main_query() && $query->is_home() ) { $query->set( ‘cat’, ‘-182,-184’ ); $query->set( ‘posts_per_page’, ’12’ ); $query->set( ‘orderby’, ‘RAND’ ); } } This method is more flexible in my opinion.