Constantin Boiangiu

CodeFlavors

Convert your current theme into a masonry style theme by simply using a shortcode or a widget. You will no longer be tied to a certain theme that implements masonry to get a good looking masonry layout.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="CodeFlavors Featured Posts - demo" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/174324022?dnt=1&app_id=122963" width="750" height="422" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write"></iframe>
CodeFlavors Featured Post allows you to feature any WordPress post type into posts and pages by using the shortcode implemented by the plugin. Besides the featured posts shortcode, the plugin implements a widget that does the exact same thing.
You can use this plugin to display any post type, be it image, regular post, page, WooCommerce product or whatever else.
To display featured posts into the front-end the plugin uses the templates it implements (by default, only 2 are available Fancy and Default) and also offers the possibility to create custom templates that can be used to display the featured posts.
Features:
<ul>
<li>Feature any post type;</li>
<li>Responsive options for displaying posts;</li>
<li>Plenty of options for choosing posts (post type, taxonomy, number of posts, skipped posts, template);</li>
<li>Compatible with Visual Composer;</li>
<li>Compatible with any WordPress theme;</li>
<li>Feature posts by using the shortcode or the widget;</li>
<li>TinyMCE editor interface for choosing featured posts.</li>
</ul>
Links:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.codeflavors.com/documents/wordpress-featured-post/?utm_source=wordpressorg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=cf_featured_post" title="CodeFlavors Featured Post for WordPress documentation" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a> on plugin usage and structure;</li>
<li><a href="http://www.codeflavors.com/codeflavors-forums/forum/codeflavors-featured-post/?utm_source=wordpressorg&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=cf_featured_post" title="CodeFlavors Featured Post Forum" rel="nofollow ugc">Forum</a> (while we try to keep up with the forums here, please post any requests on our forums for a faster response);</li>
</ul>

CodeFlavors Featured Post

Featured Post Plugin for WordPress with custom post type support.

Nelio Software

David Aguilera

With this WordPress plugin, you can define a set of featured posts easily. 
These featured posts can be added to your theme wherever you want via a widget.
The plugin is extremely simple, fast, and reliable. Once you have selected the 
featured posts, they are saved in a cache, so that the amount of database 
queries is kept to the minimum.
<blockquote>
Custom Templates 
 Version 2.0.0 let’s you define your own templates for displaying each related 
 post. Just create a directory named <code>neliofp</code> in your theme’s directory and 
 create the template you want to use such as, for instance, 
 <code>template-name.php</code>. When inserting the widget, specify that the template is 
 <code>template-name</code> and you’re ready to go!
Warning Remember to save your templates somewhere save before updating 
 your theme!
(In the directory <code>template-examples</code> you’ll find some examples).
</blockquote>
Featured image by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/abulic_monkey/291689115/" rel="nofollow ugc">Abulic 
Monkey</a>
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Featured Posts Selection Set the list of featured posts from one single 
place.</li>
<li>Powered by a Widget Use the featured images wherever you want by simply 
adding a widget.</li>
<li>Customization You can tweak a few details of the featured post list, such 
as the section title or the number of words in the excerpt.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Featured On</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://designcoral.com/wordpress/free-featured-post-widgets-for-wordpress/" rel="nofollow ugc">13 Awesome Free Featured Post Widgets for 
WordPress</a> 
(designcoral.com)</li>
<li><a href="https://neliosoftware.com/blog/set-collection-featured-posts/" rel="nofollow ugc">How To Set Up a Collection of Featured 
Posts</a> (Nelio’s blog)</li>
</ul>
<h4>Related Plugins by Nelio</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://neliosoftware.com/content/?fp=wordpress.org" rel="nofollow ugc">Nelio Content</a> | 
<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-content/" rel="ugc">Download</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nelioabtesting.com/?fp=wordpress.org" rel="nofollow ugc">Nelio A/B Testing</a> | 
<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-ab-testing/" rel="ugc">Download</a></li>
<li>Nelio External Featured Image | 
<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/external-featured-image/" rel="ugc">Download</a></li>
<li>Nelio Related Posts | 
<a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/nelio-related-posts/" rel="ugc">Download</a></li>
</ul>
Featured image by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/abulic_monkey/291689115/" rel="nofollow ugc">Abulic 
Monkey</a>

Nelio Featured Posts

The easiest featured post plugin I've come across. It's easy to setup, and the templating system was perfect for my needs. I would give this 5 stars except for some styling issues related to default styles from the plugin.

Simple & Effective

Select the featured posts you want to show at any time and include them in your theme using a widget.

CodeFlavors Featured Post vs Nelio Featured Posts