Simon Wheatley

A plugin providing template tags to list all active (or inactive) authors in the WordPress installation.
<pre><code><?php list_active_authors( 'days=30&include_protected_posts=0' ); ?> Will list all the authors active in the last 30 days, not counting password protected posts as "activity". Both parameters are optional.

<?php list_inactive_authors( 'days=30&include_protected_posts=0' ); ?> Will list all the authors NOT active in the last 30 days, counting password protected posts as "activity". Again, both parameters are optional.
</code></pre>
If “days” are not provided the tags default to the last 30 days. 
If “include_protected_posts” is not specified, the tags default to not including password protected posts.
The HTML output is fairly heavily classed, but if you need to adapt it you can. Create a directory in your theme called “view”, and a directory within that one called “author-listings”. Then copy the template files <code>view/author-listings/active-authors-list.php</code> and/or <code>view/author-listings/inactive-authors-list.php</code> from the plugin directory into your theme directory and amend as you need. If these files exist in these directories in your theme they will override the ones in the plugin directory. This is good because it means that when you update the plugin you can simply overwrite the old plugin directory as you haven’t changed any files in it. All hail <a href="http://urbangiraffe.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">John Godley</a> for the code which allows this magic to happen. Can hook into the <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/user-photo/" rel="ugc">User Photo plugin</a> to display the author photos.
Plugin initially produced on behalf of <a href="http://www.puffbox.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Puffbox</a>.
Is this plugin lacking a feature you want? I’m happy to accept offers of feature sponsorship: <a href="http://www.simonwheatley.co.uk/contact-me/" rel="nofollow ugc">contact me</a> and we can discuss your ideas.
Any issues: <a href="http://www.simonwheatley.co.uk/contact-me/" rel="nofollow ugc">contact me</a>.

Author Listing

Allows listing of authors who are active or inactive within a defined recent period of time.

OTWthemes

You can create a fully functional website using this widget. Check out the showcase. 
Drag & drop the widget in as many sidebars or custom widget areas as you like and build as many independent lists as you like. It is very easy to build any type of list you’d like. 
It works similar to SQL query but no coding knowledge is required! 
<a href="http://otwthemes.com/demos/smart-post-lists-light/?utm_source=wp.org&utm_medium=page&utm_content=demo&utm_campaign=spll" rel="nofollow ugc">Check out demo site</a>
<blockquote>
<a href="https://1.envato.market/c/1246358/275988/4415?subId1=spl&subId2=2020&subId3=https%3A%2F%2Fcodecanyon.net%2Fitem%2Fsmart-post-lists-widget-for-wordpress%2F935289&u=https%3A%2F%2Fcodecanyon.net%2Fitem%2Fsmart-post-lists-widget-for-wordpress%2F935289" rel="nofollow ugc">Upgrade to Pro Version</a> | 
 <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A8q7UQJzLg" rel="nofollow ugc">Video demonstration</a>.
</blockquote>
How it works
Go to your widgets section. Drag and Drop the widget in a sidebar(widget area) that you want your list to appear in. Fill in the form and click save. Here are the options you can choose from:
<ul>
<li>Select multiple categories and tags to list posts from.</li>
<li>Choose the number of posts to list and where to start listing from.</li>
<li>Order the list by: author, date created, date modified, post title.</li>
<li>Order to display posts: ascending, descending.</li>
<li>Select fields you want to show: title, date, excerpt, number of comments.</li>
<li>Select excerpt length in words</li>
<li>Choose to show image on: all posts, first only or none</li>
<li>Choose size of the image: thumb, medium, large</li>
<li>Choose image float: top of text, left of text, right of text</li>
</ul>
By filling a simple form this plugin will build an SQL SELECT query, return a result set and build html code based on it. The form controls select expression, where condition, order by expression, limit expression. 
No coding is required!
Showcase
You can create a fully functional website using this widget. Get some ideas at the <a href="http://otwthemes.com/demos/smart-post-lists-light/?utm_source=wp.org&utm_medium=page&utm_content=demo&utm_campaign=spll" rel="nofollow ugc">demo site</a>.
<ul>
<li>Sidebar examples</li>
<li>Footer examples</li>
<li>Blog examples</li>
<li>Portfolio example</li>
<li>Products example</li>
<li>Widgetized page</li>
</ul>
Customize front-end
By default the widget looks like all other widgets from the same sidebar (widget area) you drop it in. It has its own CSS file that overrides the default styles for your list elements. You can use that file to further customize the front-end outlook.
Get more of this plugin
Most themes for WordPress will come with default sidebars and a few footer areas where you can drop widgets in. If you want to have custom widget areas for instance in content areas of your pages and post, or any other area of your site:
<ul>
<li>Create your custom widget areas by using a plugin. It’s fast and easy.</li>
<li>Create your custom widget areas by little coding – advanced users.</li>
<li>Use an advanced theme with more widget areas defined.</li>
</ul>

Smart Post Lists Light

Create custom post lists based on options you choose from a form in a widget. Different types of lists, blog, portfolio, services pages. No coding.

Author Listing vs Smart Post Lists Light