brendaegeland

A common web design pattern is to have a primary navigation with the top level pages, and then a separate 
navigation element on each page that shows only those pages related to a common top-most page. This widget helps 
to build those secondary navigation elements.
If your page structure was like this:
<ul>
<li>Home</li>
<li>About</li>
<li>— Our History</li>
<li>— Our Staff</li>
<li>— — Employment Opportunities</li>
<li>Services</li>
<li>— Widget Development</li>
<li>— Gadget Deployment</li>
<li>Contact Us</li>
</ul>
and you added the widget with its default settings to a sidebar, it would create a list like this:
<ul>
<li>About</li>
<li>Our History</li>
<li>Our Staff</li>
<li>— Employment Opportunities</li>
</ul>
on any of the pages in the About subtree. Notice that the top-most ancestor, About, is included as the first element of the list.
<h4>Options</h4>
<ol>
<li>Title. The widget title. If left blank, it defaults to the title of the top ancestor page.</li>
<li>Show Title. Maybe you don’t want a title. Just turn it off here.</li>
<li>Top Page. You can select one of your pages to be the top page, or you can choose Default, which determines the top-most ancestor of the page being displayed.</li>
<li>Menu Class. Gets applied to the outermost <ul> element.</li>
<li>Before Links. HTML to be inserted before links in the list.</li>
<li>After Links. HTML to be inserted after links in the list.</li>
</ol>

Subpages in Context

Lists pages and subpages for a given page, or the top ancestor of the current page and all of the ancestor's descendants

webvitalii

<ul>
<li><a href="http://web-profile.net/wordpress/plugins/page-list/" title="Plugin page" rel="nofollow ugc">Page-list</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/page-list/other_notes/" title="Page-list params" rel="ugc">all Page-list params</a></li>
<li><a href="http://web-profile.net/donate/" title="Support the development" rel="nofollow ugc">Donate</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/webvitalii/page-list" title="Fork" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>shortcodes:</h4>
<ul>
<li>[pagelist] – hierarchical tree of all pages on site (useful to show sitemap of the site);</li>
<li>[subpages] – hierarchical tree of subpages to the current page;</li>
<li>[siblings] – hierarchical tree of sibling pages to the current page;</li>
<li>[pagelist_ext] – list of pages with featured image and with excerpt;</li>
</ul>
<h4>examples with aditional parameters:</h4>
<ul>
<li><code>[pagelist child_of="4" depth="2" exclude="6,7,8"]</code></li>
<li><code>[pagelist_ext child_of="4" exclude="6,7,8" image_width="50" image_height="50"]</code></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/page-list/other_notes/" title="Page-list params" rel="ugc">all Page-list params</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>Parameters for [pagelist], [subpages] and [siblings]:</h4>
<ul>
<li>[pagelist] – list of all pages as the hierarchical list;</li>
<li>[subpages] – list of subpages to the current page as the hierarchical list; Same as: <code>[pagelist child_of="current"]</code>;</li>
<li>[siblings] – list of sibling pages to the current page as the hierarchical list; Same as: <code>[pagelist child_of="parent"]</code>;</li>
<li>depth – how many levels in the hierarchy of pages are to be included in the list: <code>[pagelist depth="3"]</code>; by default depth is unlimited (depth=”0″); Displays pages at any depth and arranges them in a flat list: <code>[pagelist depth="-1"]</code>;</li>
<li>child_of – displays the sub-pages of a single Page by ID: <code>[pagelist child_of="4"]</code>;</li>
<li>exclude – define a comma-separated list of Page IDs to be excluded from the list: <code>[pagelist exclude="6,7,8"]</code>; You may exclude current page: <code>[pagelist exclude="current"]</code>;</li>
<li>exclude_tree – define a comma-separated list of parent Page IDs and all its subpages to be excluded: <code>[pagelist exclude_tree="7,10"]</code>;</li>
<li>include – include a comma-separated list of Page IDs into the list: <code>[pagelist include="6,7,8"]</code>;</li>
<li>title_li – set the text and style of the Page list’s heading: <code>[pagelist title_li="<h2>List of pages</h2>"]</code>; by default there is no title (title_li=””);</li>
<li>authors – only include pages authored by the authors in this comma-separated list of author IDs: <code>[pagelist authors="2,5"]</code>; by default all authors are included (authors=””);</li>
<li>number – sets the number of pages to display: <code>[pagelist number="10"]</code>; by default the number is unlimited (number=””);</li>
<li>offset – the number of pages to pass over (or displace) before collecting the set of pages: <code>[pagelist offset="5"]</code>; by default there is no offset (offset=””);</li>
<li>post_type – list associated with a certain hierarchical Post Type <code>[pagelist post_type="page"]</code>; by default: (post_type=”page”); possible values: page, revision, Hierarchical Custom Post Types (‘post’ is not a Hierarchical Post Type);</li>
<li>meta_key and meta_value – only include the pages that have this Custom Field Key and this Custom Field Value: <code>[pagelist meta_key="metakey" meta_value="metaval"]</code>;</li>
<li>show_date – display creation or last modified date next to each Page: <code>[pagelist show_date="created"]</code>; possible values: created, modified, updated;</li>
<li>date_format – the format of the Page date set by the show_date parameter: <code>[pagelist date_format="l, F j, Y"]</code>; by default use the date format configured in your WordPress options;</li>
<li>sort_column – sort the list of pages by column: <code>[pagelist sort_column="menu_order"]</code>; by default: (sort_column=”menu_order, post_title”); possible values: post_title, menu_order, post_date (sort by creation time), post_modified, ID, post_author, post_name (sort by page slug);</li>
<li>sort_order – the sort order of the list of pages (either ascending or descending): <code>[pagelist sort_order="desc"]</code>; by default: (sort_order=”asc”); possible values: asc, desc;</li>
<li>link_before – sets the text or html that precedes the link text inside link tag: <code>[pagelist link_before=""]</code>; you may specify html tags only in the <code>HTML</code> tab in your Rich-text editor;</li>
<li>link_after – sets the text or html that follows the link text inside link tag: <code>[pagelist link_after=""]</code>; you may specify html tags only in the <code>HTML</code> tab in your Rich-text editor;</li>
<li>class – the CSS class for list of pages: <code>[pagelist class="listclass"]</code>; by default the class is empty (class=””);</li>
<li>columns – for splitting list of pages into columns: <code>[pagelist class="page-list-cols-2"]</code>; available classes: page-list-cols-2, page-list-cols-3, page-list-cols-4, page-list-cols-5; works in all modern browsers and IE10+; columns are responsive and become 1 column at less than 768px;</li>
</ul>
More <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/wp_list_pages#Parameters" rel="nofollow ugc">info about params</a> for [pagelist], [subpages], [siblings].
<h4>Parameters for [pagelist_ext]:</h4>
<ul>
<li>[pagelist_ext] – by default shows list of subpages to current page; but if there is no subpages than all pages will be shown;</li>
<li>show_image – show or hide featured image <code>[pagelist_ext show_image="0"]</code>; “show_image” have higher priority than “show_first_image”; by default: show_image=”1″;</li>
<li>show_first_image – show or hide first image from content if there is no featured image <code>[pagelist_ext show_first_image="1"]</code>; by default: show_first_image=”0″;</li>
<li>show_title – show or hide title <code>[pagelist_ext show_title="0"]</code>; by default: show_title=”1″;</li>
<li>show_content – show or hide content <code>[pagelist_ext show_content="0"]</code>; by default: show_content=”1″;</li>
<li>more_tag – output all content before and after more tag: <code>[pagelist_ext more_tag="0"]</code>; this parameter does not add “more-link” to the end of content, it just cut content before more-tag; “more_tag” parameter have higher priority than “limit_content”; by default the more_tag is enabled (more_tag=”1″) and showing only content before more tag;</li>
<li>limit_content – content is limited by “more-tag” if it is exist or by “limit_content” parameter <code>[pagelist_ext limit_content="100"]</code>; by default: limit_content=”250″;</li>
<li>image_width – width of the image <code>[pagelist_ext image_width="80"]</code>; by default: image_width=”50″;</li>
<li>image_height – height of the image <code>[pagelist_ext image_height="80"]</code>; by default: image_height=”50″;</li>
<li>child_of – displays the sub-pages of a single Page by ID: <code>[pagelist_ext child_of="4"]</code>; by default it shows subpages to the current page;</li>
<li>parent – list those pages that have the provided single page only ID as parent: <code>[pagelist_ext parent="4"]</code>; by default parent=”-1″ and depth is unlimited;</li>
<li>sort_column – sort the list of pages by column: <code>[pagelist_ext sort_column="menu_order"]</code>; by default: (sort_column=”menu_order, post_title”); possible values: post_title, menu_order, post_date (sort by creation time), post_modified, ID, post_author, post_name (sort by page slug);</li>
<li>sort_order – the sort order of the list of pages (either ascending or descending): <code>[pagelist_ext sort_order="desc"]</code>; by default: (sort_order=”asc”); possible values: asc, desc;* hierarchical – display subpages below their parent page <code>[pagelist_ext hierarchical="0"]</code>; by default: hierarchical=”1″;</li>
<li>hierarchical – display subpages below their parent page <code>[pagelist_ext hierarchical="0"]</code>; by default: hierarchical=”1″;</li>
<li>exclude – define a comma-separated list of Page IDs to be excluded from the list: <code>[pagelist_ext exclude="6,7,8"]</code>;</li>
<li>exclude_tree – define a comma-separated list of parent Page IDs and all its subpages to be excluded: <code>[pagelist_ext exclude_tree="7,10"]</code>;</li>
<li>include – include a comma-separated list of Page IDs into the list: <code>[pagelist_ext include="6,7,8"]</code>;</li>
<li>meta_key and meta_value – only include the pages that have this Custom Field Key and this Custom Field Value: <code>[pagelist_ext meta_key="metakey" meta_value="metaval"]</code>;</li>
<li>authors – only include the pages written by the given author(s) <code>[pagelist_ext authors="6,7,8"]</code>;</li>
<li>number – sets the number of pages to display: <code>[pagelist_ext number="10"]</code>; by default the number is unlimited (number=””);</li>
<li>offset – the number of pages to pass over (or displace) before collecting the set of pages: <code>[pagelist_ext offset="5"]</code>; by default there is no offset (offset=””);</li>
<li>post_type – list associated with a certain hierarchical Post Type <code>[pagelist_ext post_type="page"]</code>; by default: (post_type=”page”); possible values: page, revision, Hierarchical Custom Post Types (‘post’ is not a Hierarchical Post Type);</li>
<li>class – the CSS class for list of pages: <code>[pagelist_ext class="listclass"]</code>; by default the class is empty (class=””);</li>
<li>strip_tags – strip tags or not: <code>[pagelist_ext strip_tags="0"]</code>; by default the tags are stripped (strip_tags=”1″);</li>
<li>strip_shortcodes – strip registered shortcodes or not: <code>[pagelist_ext strip_shortcodes="0"]</code>; by default shortcodes are stripped (strip_shortcodes=”1″) and all registered shortcodes are removed;</li>
<li>show_child_count – show count of subpages: <code>[pagelist_ext show_child_count="1"]</code>; by default the child_count is disabled (show_child_count=”0″); If show_child_count=”1″, but count of subpages=0, than child count is not shown;</li>
<li>child_count_template – the template of child_count: <code>[pagelist_ext show_child_count="1" child_count_template="Subpages: %child_count%"]</code>; by default child_count_template=”Subpages: %child_count%”;</li>
<li>show_meta_key – show or hide meta key: <code>[pagelist_ext show_meta_key="your_meta_key"]</code>; by default the show_meta_key is empty (show_meta_key=””); If show_meta_key is enabled, but meta_value is empty, than meta_key is not shown;</li>
<li>meta_template – the template of meta: <code>[pagelist_ext show_meta_key="your_meta_key" meta_template="Meta: %meta%"]</code>; by default meta_template=”%meta%”;</li>
<li>columns – for splitting list of pages into columns: <code>[pagelist_ext class="page-list-cols-2"]</code>; available classes: page-list-cols-2, page-list-cols-3, page-list-cols-4, page-list-cols-5; works in all modern browsers and IE10+; columns are responsive and become 1 column at less than 768px;</li>
</ul>
More <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_pages#Parameters" rel="nofollow ugc">info about params</a> for [pagelist_ext].

Page-list

Love Love Love this plugin - can't live without it. Use it in every site - Essential !

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The Original

[pagelist], [subpages], [siblings] and [pagelist_ext] shortcodes

Subpages in Context vs Page-list