HelgaTheViking

I found I constantly needed a way for clients to mark a post as something they wanted to feature and I’ve never found sticky posts particularly inuitive and the UI is pretty hidden for new users. The simplest solution was a checkbox in prominently located metabox.
Please note that this plugin, by itself, will not change how your posts are displayed. It just gives the UI to users and a meta key to theme developers to query for.
<h4>Usage</h4>
This plugin simply adds a <code>_featured</code> meta key to every post with a value of <code>yes</code> for featured items and <code>no</code> for everything else. Actual display of the featured items is entirely up to the theme developer, but an example ( place in your template where you’d like to display a list of featured “Portfolios”) might be as follows:
<pre><code>// params for our query
$args = array(
 'post_type' => 'portfolio',
 'posts_per_page' => 5,
 'meta_key' => '_featured',
 'meta_value' => 'yes'
);

// The Query
$featured_portfolios = new WP_Query( $args );

// The Loop
if ( $featured_portfolios ) :

 echo '<ul class="featured">';

 while ( $featured_portfolios->have_posts() ) :
 $featured_portfolios->the_post();
 echo '<li>' . get_the_title() . '</li>';
 endwhile;

 echo '</ul>';

else :

 echo 'No featured portfolios found.';

endif;

/* Restore original Post Data
 * NB: Because we are using new WP_Query we aren't stomping on the
 * original $wp_query and it does not need to be reset.
*/
wp_reset_postdata();
</code></pre>
Multiple queries per page load can slow down your site so it is worthwhile to take advantage of the <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Transients_API" rel="nofollow ugc">Transients API</a>, so an alternate usage would be:
<pre><code>// Get any existing copy of our transient data
if ( false === ( $featured_portfolios = get_transient( 'featured_portfolios' ) ) ) {
 // It wasn't there, so regenerate the data and save the transient

 // params for our query
 $args = array(
 'post_type' => 'portfolio',
 'posts_per_page' => 5,
 'meta_key' => '_featured',
 'meta_value' => 'yes'
 );

 // The Query
 $featured_portfolios = new WP_Query( $args );

 // store the transient
 set_transient( 'featured_portfolios', $featured_portfolios );

}

// Use the data like you would have normally...

// The Loop
if ( $featured_portfolios ) :

 echo '<ul class="featured">';

 while ( $featured_portfolios->have_posts() ) :
 $featured_portfolios->the_post();
 echo '<li>' . get_the_title() . '</li>';
 endwhile;

 echo '</ul>';

else :

 echo 'No featured portfolios found.';

endif;

/* Restore original Post Data
 * NB: Because we are using new WP_Query we aren't stomping on the
 * original $wp_query and it does not need to be reset.
*/
wp_reset_postdata();
</code></pre>
Then to ensure that your featured posts list is updated, add a function to your theme’s functions.php to delete the transient when a portfolio (in this example) post type is saved.
<pre><code>// Create a function to delete our transient when a portfolio post is saved
function save_post_delete_featured_transient( $post_id ) {
 if ( 'portfolio' == get_post_type( $post_id ) )
 delete_transient( 'featured_portfolios' );
}
// Add the function to the save_post hook so it runs when posts are saved
add_action( 'save_post', 'save_post_delete_featured_transient' );
</code></pre>
Simple queries should only need the <code>meta_key</code> and <code>meta_value</code> parameters, but if you need something more advanced then you might want to read about how to use the more <a href="http://scribu.net/wordpress/advanced-metadata-queries.html" rel="nofollow ugc">complex Meta Query parameters</a>.
<h4>Support</h4>
Support is handled in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/featured-item-metabox" rel="ugc">WordPress forums</a>. Please note that support is limited and does not cover any custom implementation of the plugin.
Please report any bugs, errors, warnings, code problems at <a href="https://github.com/helgatheviking/Featured-Item-Metabox/issues" rel="nofollow ugc">Github</a>

Featured Item Metabox

Quickly add a metabox to any post type for marking a post as featured.  Toggle featured status even more quickly from the posts lists/ quick edit scre …

WebMan Design | Oliver Juhas

<blockquote>
Before you rate/review the plugin:
Please note that the plugin was created for WordPress theme developers. If you are a normal, non-tech-savvy WordPress user, this plugin will be disappointing for you and you don’t need to install it as it was created for different purpose.
If you are a theme developer and experience any issue with the plugin, please submit a support ticket.
</blockquote>
WebMan Amplifier is WordPress plugin that provides pack of features for theme developers. The plugin was build to help with, and simplify the WordPress theme development process.
This plugin was created primarily for <a href="https://www.webmandesign.eu/" rel="nofollow ugc">WebMan Design themes</a>, but it works with any other theme as well if you declare a support for it in the theme’s code.
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Well thought shortcodes with simple and fast Shortcode Generator and integration with <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/beaver-builder-lite-version/" rel="ugc">Beaver Builder</a> page builder (with support for <a href="https://wpml.org" rel="nofollow ugc">WPML</a> multilingual plugin)</li>
<li>Custom post types: 
• Projects – to create your own portfolios 
• Testimonials – to manage your customers or partners testimonies 
• Staff – to manage your team members 
• Content Modules – to create an icon boxes, services boxes or a content injection anywhere on your website 
• Logos – to manage your clients and/or partners logos list</li>
<li>Custom widgets 
• Contact – to display your contact information 
• Submenu – to display a subpages of the current page 
• Tabbed Widgets – to display any widgets in tabbed interface 
• Posts – to list posts or portfolio projects 
• Content Module – to display any Content Module post</li>
<li>Metabox generator</li>
<li>Fontello.com icon font uploader and simple integration</li>
</ul>
<h4>Additional Resources</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/webman-amplifier/" rel="ugc">Have a question?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/webmandesign/#content-themes" rel="nofollow ugc">Grab a free theme</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.webmandesign.eu" rel="nofollow ugc">Visit WebMan Design</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>Isotope Licensing</h4>
Please note that the plugin integrates an Isotope JavaScript filter. This script is released under GPL v3 license for non-commercial use. If you intend to use the plugin for commercial purpose, please purchase the <a href="http://isotope.metafizzy.co/license.html" rel="nofollow ugc">Isotope license</a>.

WebMan Amplifier

Amplifies functionality of WP themes. Provides custom post types, shortcodes, metaboxes, icons. Theme developer's best friend!

Featured Item Metabox vs WebMan Amplifier