Kybernetik Services

WP Cool Tools

Martin Stehle

List the most recent posts with post titles, thumbnails, excerpts, authors, categories, dates and more!
Although the plugin is built only for widget areas users reported that it works in Elementor and works in Oxygen. Whether it runs in other page builders is unknown. Please let me know in which page builder you were able to use the plugin successfully.
The plugin does not collect any personal data, so it is ready for EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.
<h4>Lightweight, simple and effective</h4>
No huge widget with hundreds of options. This plugin is based on the well-known WordPress default widget ‘Recent Posts’ and extended to display more information about the posts like e.g. thumbnails, excerpts and assigned categories. And it provides more options to build custom-taylored posts lists.
The thumbnails will be built from the featured image of a post or of the first image in the post content. If there is neither a featured image nor a content image then you can define a default thumbnail.
You can set the width and height of the thumbnails in the list. The thumbnails appear left-aligned to the post titles in left-to-right languages. In right-to-left languages they appear right-aligned.
<h4>Custom Post Type</h4>
If you want to list custom post types with the featured image, please check out our plugin <a href="https://www.kybernetik-services.com/shop/wordpress/plugin/ultimate-post-list-pro/?utm_source=wordpress_org&utm_medium=plugin&utm_campaign=recent-post-widgets-with-thumbnail&utm_content=readme" rel="nofollow ugc">Ultimate Post List Pro</a>.
<h4>Demo</h4>
You want to test Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails before installing on your site? Try it out on your individual and free playground site and <a href="https://playground.wordpress.net/?theme=twentytwentyone&plugin=recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails" rel="nofollow ugc">click here</a>.
<h4>What users wrote</h4>
<ul>
<li>“This plugin performs a simple task but one that I find to be invaluable.” <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/simple-but-invaluable-plugin/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by funkster on July 1, 2025</li>
<li>“I just want to say thank you for developing such a good plugin.” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/thanks-for-developing-such-a-great-plugin-4/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by modelaid on July 3, 2024</li>
<li>“Excellent plugin!” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excellent-plugin-8567/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by mystnick on April 18, 2023</li>
<li>“… one of the dynamic and smart, yet admin and user optimized widget plugins …” in <a href="https://www.sktthemes.org/wordpress-plugins/add-widgets-wordpress-website/" rel="nofollow ugc">How to Add Widgets and Start Using Them in WordPress Website?</a> by SKT Posts Themes on September 3, 2020</li>
<li>“بهترین افزونه های نمایش آخرین نوشته ها در وردپرس” in <a href="https://modirwp.com/%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B2%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails/" rel="nofollow ugc">ابزارک آخرین نوشته وردپرس</a> by Ghodsi on December 16, 2019</li>
<li>“Another good all around widget, suitable for most projects” in <a href="https://howto-wordpress-tips.com/free-wordpress-recent-posts-widget/" rel="nofollow ugc">Free WordPress recent posts widget – Which one is the best?</a> on December 3, 2019</li>
<li>“In just a few clicks, your website will look considerably more established and professional.” in <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/website/wordpress-thumbnail-plugins" rel="nofollow ugc">3 Best WordPress Thumbnail Plugins to Manage Images Perfectly</a> by HubSpot Staff on October 29, 2019</li>
<li>The best of the recent posts widgets in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/the-best-of-the-recent-posts-widget/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by noddemix on June 13, 2019</li>
<li>Number 8 in <a href="https://ideiasdig.com/14-plugins-para-otimizar-seu-site/#8Recent_Posts_Widget_With_Thumbnails" rel="nofollow ugc">14 Plugins para Otimizar seu Site</a> by Ideias Dig on November 8, 2018</li>
<li>“Truly EXCELLENT Plugin!” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/truly-excellent-plugin/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by dnuttal on October 11, 2018</li>
<li>“Easier than making an egg, seriously.” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/easier-than-making-an-egg-seriously/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by djackofall on October 2, 2017</li>
<li>“This plugin is INCREDIBLE” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/do-you-also-have-one-for-most-popular-posts/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by lucio7 on August 25, 2017</li>
<li>Widgets Users Will Love in <a href="https://speckyboy.com/free-wordpress-widget-plugins/" rel="nofollow ugc">10 Ultra-Useful Free WordPress Widget Plugins</a> by Eric Karkovack on June 16, 2017</li>
<li>listed in <a href="https://wpteamsupport.com/wordpress-plugins-engage-visitors/" rel="nofollow ugc">20 WordPress Plugins that Steals Attention to Engage Visitors of Your Site</a> by WP Team Support on March 6, 2017</li>
<li>Number 1 in <a href="https://www.nimbusthemes.com/8-essential-wordpress-widgets-to-supercharge-your-website/" rel="nofollow ugc">8 essential WordPress widgets to supercharge your website</a> by Rafay Ansari on January 31, 2017</li>
<li>“Excellent (after trying a few)!” in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/topic/excellent-after-trying-a-few/" rel="ugc">reviews</a> by giorgissimo on January 6, 2017</li>
</ul>
<h4>What users filmed</h4>
Some users published video tutorials on YouTube:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKoqcLBHhkM" rel="nofollow ugc">Class 09 – Working with Plugins (Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails)</a> by WordPress Learning Bangladesh on March 7, 2017</li>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS9WIeaMb6s" rel="nofollow ugc">Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails Setup Tutorial – WordPress Lesson and Tip</a> by Making a Website on April 17, 2016</li>
<li><a href="https://youtu.be/dqzz8NZc99Q" rel="nofollow ugc">Add Recent Posts Widget with Thumbnail – WordPress</a> by eMediaCoach on August 15, 2015</li>
</ul>
<h4>Options you can set</h4>
<ol>
<li>Title of the widget</li>
<li>Number of listed posts</li>
<li>Open post links in new windows</li>
<li>Different options for post order and sorting</li>
<li>Hide the current post in list</li>
<li>Show only sticky posts</li>
<li>Hide sticky posts</li>
<li>Keep sticky posts on top of the list if not hidden</li>
<li>Hide post title</li>
<li>Maximum length of post title</li>
<li>Show post author name</li>
<li>Label for the author names</li>
<li>Show post categories</li>
<li>Show post category names as links to their archives</li>
<li>Label for categories</li>
<li>Show post date</li>
<li>Show post excerpt</li>
<li>Show number of comments</li>
<li>Excerpt length</li>
<li>Signs after excerpt</li>
<li>Ignore post excerpt field as excerpt source (builds excerpts only from the post content)</li>
<li>Ignore post content as excerpt source (builds excerpts only from the excerpt fields)</li>
<li>Show posts of selected categories (or of all categories)</li>
<li>Show post thumbnail (featured image)</li>
<li>Registered thumbnail dimensions</li>
<li>Thumbnail width in px</li>
<li>Thumbnail height in px</li>
<li>Keep the aspect ratio of thumbnails</li>
<li>Try to take the first post image as thumbnail</li>
<li>Only use the first post image as thumbnail</li>
<li>Use default thumbnail if no thumbnail is available</li>
<li>Always use default thumbnail</li>
<li>Default thumbnail URL</li>
<li>Alternative text of the default thumbnail</li>
<li>Omit all alternative texts of the thumbnails for a better accessibility</li>
<li>Print slugs of post categories in class attribute of LI elements</li>
<li>Print inline CSS instead of creating a CSS file</li>
<li>No CSS generation at all</li>
</ol>
<h4>Useful hints for developers: Supported Hooks</h4>
The plugin considers the output of actions hooked on:
<ol>
<li><code>rpwwt_widget_posts_args</code>
<ul>
<li>passed argument: the query arguments as an array</li>
<li>expected return value: an array of query arguments</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>widget_title</code>
<ul>
<li>passed arguments:
<ol>
<li>the widget title as a string</li>
<li>the widget settings as an array</li>
<li>the widget base ID as a string</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>rpwwt_excerpt_length</code>
<ul>
<li>passed argument: the maximum number of characters for the post excerpt as an integer</li>
<li>expected return value: an integer</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>rpwwt_excerpt_more</code>
<ul>
<li>passed argument: the string to append after the post excerpt</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>rpwwt_the_excerpt</code>
<ul>
<li>passed arguments:
<ol>
<li>the content of the post excerpt field as a string</li>
<li>the post object</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>the_excerpt</code>
<ul>
<li>passed argument: the post excerpt as a string</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>rpwwt_categories</code>
<ul>
<li>passed argument: the category list of each post as a string</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><code>rpwwt_list_cats</code>
<ul>
<li>passed arguments:
<ol>
<li>the category name as a string</li>
<li>the category as an array</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>expected return value: a string</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<h4>Useful hints for developers: Available CSS Selectors</h4>
To design the list and its items, you can use these CSS selectors:
<pre><code>.rpwwt-widget: the element which contains the post list
.rpwwt-widget ul: the list which contains the list items
.rpwwt-widget ul li: the list item in the list
.rpwwt-widget ul li.rpwwt-sticky: the list item of a sticky post
.rpwwt-widget ul li a: link in the list
.rpwwt-widget ul li a img: linked image
.rpwwt-widget ul li a span.rpwwt-post-title: the post title
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-author: the post author
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-categories: the post category list
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-date: the post date
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-excerpt: the post excerpt
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-excerpt .rpwwt-post-excerpt-more: the "more" text following the excerpt.
.rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-comments-number: the number of comments
</code></pre>
<h4>Languages</h4>
The user interface is available in several languages.
Starting from version 7.1.0 the handling for translations are moved to <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails/" rel="nofollow ugc">translate.wordpress.org</a>. 
Please help to translate into more languages, or you can re-work on the current translations if you think it’s needed. 
If you have done your translation, please leave a comment in the <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails" rel="ugc">plugin’s support forum</a>. I’ll take care of the review and approval.

Aadhya

InfornWeb

pluginandplay

<h4>✅ Post List Designer by Category is best for:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Display post list with beautiful designs (2 designs). </li>
<li>Display post list with simple/minimal design.</li>
<li>Display post list with archive design.</li>
<li>Display post list by category.</li>
</ul>
Post List Designer by Category is used to display WordPress post with list designs. You can display the latest post on your homepage/frontpage as well as in inner pages.
View <a href="https://demo.infornweb.com/post-list-designer-demo/" rel="nofollow ugc">FREE DEMO</a> for more details.
Post List Designer allows you to list post by category in a post or page using the shortcode.
The shortcode accepts a category id, the order in which you want the post to display, and the number of posts to display. You can also display the post author, date, excerpt, even the content!
Checkout <a href="https://infornweb.com/post-list-designer-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Premium Version Demo</a> | <a href="https://infornweb.com/post-list-designer-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Buy Premium Version</a> for more designs and options.
<blockquote>
Premium Version supports custom post type, custom taxonomy, custom tags, featured post, trending post as well as many cool features. 
 You can get <a href="https://infornweb.com/post-list-designer-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">Post List Designer Premium here</a>!
</blockquote>
<h4>This WordPress plugin contains 1 shortcode</h4>
✅ 1) Post List Shortcode
<pre><code>[pld_post_list]
</code></pre>
<h4>Following are Post shortcode Parameters:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Limit : [pld_post_list limit=”10″] (Display latest 10 post and then pagination).</li>
<li>Category : [pld_post_list category=”category_id OR category_slug”] (Display post categories wise).</li>
<li>Design: [pld_post_list design=”design-1″] (Select the grid design. Right now there are 2 designs. design-1 and design-2).</li>
<li>Display Author : [pld_post_list show_author=”true”] (Display Post author OR not. By default value is “true”. Values are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Content : [pld_post_list show_content=”true” ] (Display post Short content OR not. By default value is “true”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Date : [pld_post_list show_date=”false”] (Display Post date OR not. By default value is “true”. Options are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Category Name : [pld_post_list show_category_name=”true” ] (Display post category name OR not. By default value is “true”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Tags : [pld_post_list show_tags=”true”] (show post tags or not.)</li>
<li>Content Words Limit : [pld_post_list content_words_limit=”30″ ] (Control post short content Words limit. By default limit is 20 words).</li>
<li>Display Comments : [pld_post_list show_comments=”true”] (Show post comments or not.)</li>
<li>Post Order : [pld_post_list order=”DESC”] (Designates the ascending or descending order of the ‘orderby’ parameter. Defaults to ‘DESC’. Values are “DESC” and “ASC”)</li>
<li>Post Order by : [pld_post_list orderby=”post_date”] (Sort retrieved posts by parameter. Defaults to ‘date’ (post_date). One or more options can be passed. ‘none’,ID’,’author’,’title’,’name’,rand’,date’)</li>
<li>Pagination : [pld_post_list pagination=”true”] (show post pagination or not.)</li>
<li>Pagination Type : [pld_post_list pagination_type=”prev-next”] (pagination type. values are “numeric” OR “prev-next”. By default is numeric)</li>
</ul>
✅ 2) Post Simple/Minimal List Shortcode
<pre><code>[pld_simple_list]
</code></pre>
<h4>Following are Post shortcode Parameters:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Limit : [pld_simple_list limit=”10″] (Display latest 10 post and then pagination).</li>
<li>Category : [pld_simple_list category=”category_id OR category_slug”] (Display post categories wise).</li>
<li>List Style : [pld_simple_list list_style=”ul”] (Select list type. By default value is “ul” You can use ‘ul’ OR ‘ol’).</li>
<li>Title Tag : [pld_simple_list title_tag=”div”] (Select title tag. By default value is “div”. You can use ‘h2’ OR ‘h3’ etc).</li>
<li>Display Author : [pld_simple_list show_author=”true”] (Display Post author OR not. By default value is “false”. Values are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Content : [pld_simple_list show_content=”true” ] (Display post Short content OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Show Read More : [pld_simple_list show_read_more=”true” ] (Display read more link OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Date : [pld_simple_list show_date=”false”] (Display Post date OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Category Name : [pld_simple_list show_category_name=”true” ] (Display post category name OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Comments : [pld_simple_list show_comments=”true”] (Show post comments or not.)</li>
<li>Content Words Limit : [pld_simple_list content_words_limit=”30″ ] (Control post short content Words limit. By default limit is 20 words).</li>
<li>Post Order : [pld_simple_list order=”DESC”] (Designates the ascending or descending order of the ‘orderby’ parameter. Defaults to ‘DESC’. Values are “DESC” and “ASC”)</li>
<li>Post Order by : [pld_simple_list orderby=”post_date”] (Sort retrieved posts by parameter. Defaults to ‘date’ (post_date). One or more options can be passed. ‘none’,ID’,’author’,’title’,’name’,rand’,date’)</li>
<li>Display Image : [pld_simple_list show_image=”false”] (Display Post image OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Pagination : [pld_simple_list pagination=”true”] (show post pagination or not.)</li>
<li>Pagination Type : [pld_simple_list pagination_type=”prev-next”] (pagination type. values are “numeric” OR “prev-next”. By default is numeric)</li>
</ul>
✅ 3) Post Archive List Shortcode
<pre><code>[pld_archive_list]
</code></pre>
<h4>Following are Post shortcode Parameters:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Limit : [pld_archive_list limit=”10″] (Display latest 10 post and then pagination).</li>
<li>Category : [pld_archive_list category=”category_id OR category_slug”] (Display post categories wise).</li>
<li>List Style : [pld_archive_list list_style=”ul”] (Select list type. By default value is “ul” You can use ‘ul’ OR ‘ol’).</li>
<li>Title Tag : [pld_archive_list title_tag=”div”] (Select title tag. By default value is “div”. You can use ‘h2’ OR ‘h3’ etc).</li>
<li>Display Author : [pld_archive_list show_author=”true”] (Display Post author OR not. By default value is “false”. Values are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Content : [pld_archive_list show_content=”true” ] (Display post Short content OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Show Read More : [pld_archive_list show_read_more=”true” ] (Display read more link OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Date : [pld_archive_list show_date=”false”] (Display Post date OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Display Category Name : [pld_archive_list show_category_name=”true” ] (Display post category name OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”).</li>
<li>Display Comments : [pld_archive_list show_comments=”true”] (Show post comments or not.)</li>
<li>Content Words Limit : [pld_archive_list content_words_limit=”30″ ] (Control post short content Words limit. By default limit is 20 words).</li>
<li>Post Order : [pld_archive_list order=”DESC”] (Designates the ascending or descending order of the ‘orderby’ parameter. Defaults to ‘DESC’. Values are “DESC” and “ASC”)</li>
<li>Post Order by : [pld_archive_list orderby=”post_date”] (Sort retrieved posts by parameter. Defaults to ‘date’ (post_date). One or more options can be passed. ‘none’,ID’,’author’,’title’,’name’,rand’,date’)</li>
<li>Display Image : [pld_archive_list show_image=”false”] (Display Post image OR not. By default value is “false”. Options are “true” and “false”)</li>
<li>Pagination : [pld_archive_list pagination=”true”] (show post pagination or not.)</li>
<li>Pagination Type : [pld_archive_list pagination_type=”prev-next”] (pagination type. values are “numeric” OR “prev-next”. By default is numeric)</li>
</ul>
<h4>✅ Stunning Features:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Display post in list view.</li>
<li>Display post as archive view.</li>
<li>Display post list category wise.</li>
<li>100% mobile & tablet responsive.</li>
<li>Work in any WordPress theme.</li>
<li>Lightweight, Fast & Powerful.</li>
<li>And more features coming soon!</li>
</ul>
<h4>PRO Features Include :</h4>
<blockquote>
Premium Version 
 * 10+ Designs 
 * Create multiple layout. 
 * Works with any Custom Post Type. 
 * Works with any Custom Taxonomy. 
 * Works with any Custom Tags. 
 * Set custom link for post. 
 * Featured Post Functionality. 
 * Trending Post Functionality. 
 * Multiple Post Type Functionality. 
 * 5 Types of different pagination. 
 * Load More and Prev – Next Ajax Pagination. 
 * Infinite Scroll Pagination. 
 * Shortcode Generator with Live Preview Panel – No hassles for documentation. 
 * Amazing Shortcode Template Functionality – Control your shortcode from one place on various location!! 
 * Set “Order” and “Orderby” sorting parameters via shortcode. 
 * Drag & Drop Post Order Change. 
 * WPBakery Page Builder support. 
 * Elementor Page Builder support. 
 * 100% Multi language. 
 * Many more other features also…
View <a href="https://infornweb.com/post-list-designer-pro/" rel="nofollow ugc">PRO DEMO and Features</a> for additional information.
</blockquote>
<h4>What’s Next</h4>
If you find this plugin useful to display logo in carousel, slider and grid view, please leave a good rating and consider checking out our other plugins:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://infornweb.com/news-blog-designer-pack-pro/" title="News & Blog Designer Pack - WordPress Blog Plugin" rel="friend nofollow ugc">News & Blog Designer Pack Pro</a> – A WordPress Blog & News Plugin</li>
<li><a href="https://infornweb.com/post-slider-and-carousel-pro/" title="Post Slider and Carousel with Widget - A Responsive Post Slider" rel="friend nofollow ugc">Post Slider and Carousel with Widget</a> – A Responsive Post Slider and Post Carousel Plugin</li>
<li><a href="https://infornweb.com/logo-showcase-with-slick-slider-pro/" title="Logo Showcase with Slick Slider – Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid" rel="friend nofollow ugc">Logo Showcase with Slick Slider</a> – Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid Plugin</li>
</ul>

Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List

Nice Start

Display WordPress Post on your website in a List or Archive list view. Display category post, archive post, recent post and post list with category.

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails vs Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List