function my_paginate_links() {
    global $wp_rewrite, $wp_query;
    $wp_query->query_vars['paged'] > 1 ? $current = $wp_query->query_vars['paged'] : $current = 1;

    $pagination = array(
        'base' => @add_query_arg('page','%#%'),
        'format' => '',
        'total' => $wp_query->max_num_pages,
        'current' => $current,
        'prev_text' => __('« Previous'),
        'next_text' => __('Next »'),
        'end_size' => 1,
        'mid_size' => 2,
        'show_all' => true,
        'type' => 'list'
    );

    if ( $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() )
            $pagination['base'] = user_trailingslashit( trailingslashit( remove_query_arg( 's', get_pagenum_link( 1 ) ) ) . 'page/%#%/', 'paged' );

    if ( !empty( $wp_query->query_vars['s'] ) )
            $pagination['add_args'] = array( 's' => get_query_var( 's' ) );

    echo paginate_links( $pagination );
}

In your template only my_paginate_links() will be called. And this is how the output looks like, of course you can adjust it to your liking:

Example Screenshots

The function

Now the function for the pagination

function fb_paging_bar( $args = array() ) {

	$defaults = array(
		'range'           => 4,
		'custom_query'    => FALSE,
		'previous_string' => __( '«««', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN ),
		'next_string'     => __( '»»»', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN ),
		'view_fp'         => TRUE,
		'view_lp'         => TRUE,
		'before_output'   => '<div class="postlink">',
		'after_output'    => '</div>'
	);

	$args = wp_parse_args(
		$args,
		apply_filters( 'fb_paging_bar_defaults', $defaults )
	);

	$args['range'] = (int) $args['range'] - 1;
	if ( !$args['custom_query'] )
		$args['custom_query'] = @$GLOBALS['wp_query'];
	$count = (int) $args['custom_query']->max_num_pages;
	$page  = intval( get_query_var( 'paged' ) );
	$ceil  = ceil( $args['range'] / 2 );

	if ( $count <= 1 )
		return FALSE;

	if ( !$page )
		$page = 1;

	if ( $count > $args['range'] ) {
		if ( $page <= $args['range'] ) {
			$min = 1;
			$max = $args['range'] + 1;
		} elseif ( $page >= ($count - $ceil) ) {
			$min = $count - $args['range'];
			$max = $count;
		} elseif ( $page >= $args['range'] && $page < ($count - $ceil) ) {
			$min = $page - $ceil;
			$max = $page + $ceil;
		}
	} else {
		$min = 1;
		$max = $count;
	}

	$echo = '';
	$previous = intval($page) - 1;
	$previous = esc_attr( get_pagenum_link($previous) );
	if ( $previous && (1 != $page) )
		$echo .= '<a href="' . $previous . '" title="' . __( 'previous', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN) . '">' . $args['previous_string'] . '</a>';
	$firstpage = esc_attr( get_pagenum_link(1) );

	if ( $args['view_fp'] && $firstpage && (1 != $page) )
		$echo .= '<a href="' . $firstpage . '">' . __( 'First', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN ) . '</a>';

	if ( !empty($min) && !empty($max) ) {
		for( $i = $min; $i <= $max; $i++ ) {
			if ($page == $i) {
				$echo .= '<span class="active">' . str_pad( (int)$i, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT ) . '</span>';
			} else {
				$echo .= sprintf( '<a href="%s">%002d</a>', esc_attr( get_pagenum_link($i) ), $i );
			}
		}
	}

	if ($args['view_lp']) {
		$lastpage = esc_attr( get_pagenum_link($count) );
		if ( $lastpage && ($count != $page) ) {
			$count = str_pad( (int)$count, 2, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT );
			$echo .= '<a href="' . $lastpage . '">' . __( 'Last', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN ) . '(' . $count . ')' . '</a>';
		}
	}

	$next = intval($page) + 1;
	$next = esc_attr( get_pagenum_link($next) );
	if ($next && ($count != $page) )
		$echo .= '<a href="' . $next . '" title="' . __( 'next', FB_GREYFOTO_TEXTDOMAIN) . '">' . $args['next_string'] . '</a>';

	if ( isset($echo) )
		echo $args['before_output'] . $echo . $args['after_output'];
}

For use the function inside the templates use the follow syntax:

<?php if ( function_exists('fb_paging_bar') ) fb_paging_bar(); ?>

Example for custom arguments

For custom arguments, please use the filter. Also an example for this solution.

function change_fb_paging_bar_defaults($args) {

	$args['previous_string'] = ''; // empty string
	$args['next_string'] = '';

	return $args;
}
add_filter('fb_paging_bar_defaults', 'change_fb_paging_bar_defaults');

Another annoyance would be if .pagination has a margin-bottom, which would also have a negative effect on the layout. What can you do about it?

WordPress stores the setting of the comment pagination in the database table options under page_comments. Value 1 means on, value 0 means off. By doing so you can hide the pagination in comments.php if it is not turned on:

<?php if ((int) get_option('page_comments') === 1): ?>
	<div class="navigation">
		<div class="alignleft"><?php previous_comments_link() ?></div>
		<div class="alignright"><?php next_comments_link() ?></div>
	</div>
<?php endif; ?>

The query checks whether the comment pagination is set to (1) and displays the navigation. If it is set to (0) it will not display the navigation. On the other hand, if it is turned off, WordPress doesn't need to execute the two functions previous_comments_link() and next_comments_link().

My solution works with the WordPress pagination and looks like this:

//detect the set number of posts per page
$ppp = get_option('posts_per_page');

// first page 14 posts
if (!is_paged()) {
    $posts = get_posts('numberposts=14');
// second page with offset
} elseif($paged == 2) {
    $posts = get_posts('offset=14');
// all other pages with settings from backend
} else {
    $offset = $ppp*($paged-2)+14;
    $posts = get_posts('offset='.$offset);
}

if($posts) :
    foreach ($posts as $post) :
        //your code
    endforeach;
endif;

This might be not the most intelligent solution, but it works. If anybody has a better idea, please let us know in the comments.