Display WP_Query results in a specific order - wordpress

Question

I have this WP_Query:
<?php $query = new WP_Query(
array( "post_type" => "post",
"showposts" => "12"
) );
while ($query->have_posts()) : $query->the_post(); ?>
...
My goal is to use this function for displaying the posts in this order:
1 3 5 7 9 11 2 4 6 8 10 12
So that 6 rows with 2 columns each will be displayed like this:
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
The page logic that I have requires this specific order.
At the moment I'm achieving this using shortcodes, but that means 12 mySQL queries instead of just 1 and having the result displayed in this custom order.
I know that I could do this if I setup a custom field where to specify the order in which I want the result provided.
However, I don't want to complicate an editor's life, so I want this to be achieved by stating somewhere the order in which I want the WP_Query results displayed.
I had a look at post__in, but that would involve manually providing the posts IDs, so it is not an option since this is the home page and the post numbers will always be different.
Basically, no matter which are the latest posts (what ID they have), I want to display them like this:
1,3,5,7,9,11,2,4,6,8,10,12
Instead of the default order, which is:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12

Answer 1

There is a very simple and easy way to achieve this. You can take advantage of the built in loop counter, $wp_query->current_post. There is no need for custom queries etc. Inside your loop, do something like this
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<?php while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<?php /* Start the Loop */ ?>
<div class="entry-content <?php if( $wp_query->current_post%2 == 1 ) echo ' left-post'; ?>">
<?php get_template_part( 'content', get_post_format() ); ?>
</div>
<?php endwhile; ?>
This will add a class of left-post to every second post. You can now style accordingly (float your entry-content left and set the width to about 48%). To avoid wacky styling problems, simply add .left-post { clear: left; } to your stylesheet

Answer 2

It's really simple, actually.
Install a plugin called Simple Page Ordering: https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-page-ordering/
And add the 'oderby' => 'menu_order' argument in your query.
Also, instead of using "showposts", use posts_per_page.
thanks.

Answer 3

I'm sorry to say that it's unlikely you'll achieve this using WP_Query. I believe you're likely approaching this in the wrong way.
Your results will need to be returned in a structured and uniform way, and you'll have to handle them appropriately, regardless of the method to return them. Doing it the way you're proposing can easily cause issues with pagination, and MySQL doesn't have an ordering algorithm to achieve it, so any query written will be slow. You'll limit yourself moving forward too.
I'm guessing you are doing something with columns on the web page, which is why you want the results in this order. If this is the case there are lots of ways to achieve it without having to reorder your results in this manner.
Without trying to sound offensive, it sounds like a case of over-complicating the problem, and it can be solved earlier on in the process rather than tinkering with the data source itself.
If you can send over what you're doing with the results themselves (maybe better in a different question?) then you might get better results.