diff --git includes/pager.inc includes/pager.inc
index 12c9eed..1576987 100644
--- includes/pager.inc
+++ includes/pager.inc
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ class PagerDefault extends SelectQueryExtender {
    * to it.
    */
   public function execute() {
-    global $pager_page_array, $pager_total, $pager_total_items, $pager_limits;
 
     // Add convenience tag to mark that this is an extended query. We have to
     // do this in the constructor to ensure that it is set before preExecute()
@@ -73,22 +72,10 @@ class PagerDefault extends SelectQueryExtender {
     }
     $this->ensureElement();
 
-    $page = isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : '';
-
-    // Convert comma-separated $page to an array, used by other functions.
-    $pager_page_array = explode(',', $page);
-
-    if (!isset($pager_page_array[$this->element])) {
-      $pager_page_array[$this->element] = 0;
-    }
-
-    // We calculate the total of pages as ceil(items / limit).
-    $pager_total_items[$this->element] = $this->getCountQuery()->execute()->fetchField();
-    $pager_total[$this->element] = ceil($pager_total_items[$this->element] / $this->limit);
-    $pager_page_array[$this->element] = max(0, min((int)$pager_page_array[$this->element], ((int)$pager_total[$this->element]) - 1));
-    $pager_limits[$this->element] = $this->limit;
-    $this->range($pager_page_array[$this->element] * $this->limit, $this->limit);
-
+    $total_items = $this->getCountQuery()->execute()->fetchField();
+    $current_page = pager_default_initialize($total_items, $this->limit, $this->element);
+    $this->range($current_page * $this->limit, $this->limit);
+    
     // Now that we've added our pager-based range instructions, run the query normally.
     return $this->query->execute();
   }
@@ -171,6 +158,39 @@ class PagerDefault extends SelectQueryExtender {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Helper function to initialize a pager for theme('pager').
+ *
+ * @param $total
+ *  The total number of items found.
+ * @param $limit
+ *  The number of items you will display per page.
+ * @param $element
+ *  An optional integer to distinguish between multiple pagers on one page.
+ *
+ * @return
+ *  The current page for $element. 0 by default if $_GET['page'] is empty.
+ */
+function pager_default_initialize($total, $limit = 10, $element = 0) {
+  global $pager_page_array, $pager_total, $pager_total_items, $pager_limits;
+
+  $page = isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : '';
+
+  // Convert comma-separated $page to an array, used by other functions.
+  $pager_page_array = explode(',', $page);
+
+  if (!isset($pager_page_array[$element])) {
+    $pager_page_array[$element] = 0;
+  }
+
+  // We calculate the total of pages as ceil(items / limit).
+  $pager_total_items[$element] = $total;
+  $pager_total[$element] = ceil($pager_total_items[$element] / $limit);
+  $pager_page_array[$element] = max(0, min((int)$pager_page_array[$element], ((int)$pager_total[$element]) - 1));
+  $pager_limits[$element] = $limit;
+  return $pager_page_array[$element];
+}
+
+/**
  * Compose a URL query parameter array for pager links.
  *
  * @return