<p>This plugin gives the look of a magazine-style website with thumbnails and excerpts in a clean layout. Thumbnails are generated automatically, and there is a settings page to set an unholy amount of options. (Really, it’s out of control and I’m sorry.) The latest release also has a “featured post” add-on so you can specify any post you want or just the most recent one to be put in the featured post box. You can also add a css popup for the image that includes the post title and </p>
<p>Are you using Thesis from DIYThemes.com? Easily place your Recent Visual Posts by simply inserting your desired Thesis hook on the settings page. No code changes needed.</p>
<p>This plugin uses a slightly modified version of the excellent Image Extractor plugin found at <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/image-extractor/" rel="ugc">wordpress.org/extend/plugins/image-extractor/</a>.</p>
<h3>I need more help!</h3>
<p>Make sure you check out the <a href="http://oktober5.com/visual-recent-posts-plugin/" rel="nofollow ugc">plugin homepage</a>. If you need my help, check out the <a href="http://oktober5.com/forums/" rel="nofollow ugc">plugin forums</a></p>


Visual Recent Posts

Displays your recent posts with auto-generated thumbnails and excerpts; also includes a featured post and popup box option.

mrwweb

<p>Feature A Page Widget provides a “just works” solution for showcasing a Page, Post, or custom post type in any widget area (aka sidebar). It leverages core WordPress features, a <em>simple</em> set of options, and a sleek UI for selecting one of three widget layouts.</p>
<h4>How to Use the Widget</h4>
<ol>
<li>Install and activate the plugin.</li>
<li>Edit the page you want to feature.</li>
<li>Fill out the <a href="http://en.support.wordpress.com/splitting-content/excerpts/#creating-excerpts" rel="nofollow ugc">Excerpt</a> and select a <a href="http://en.support.wordpress.com/featured-images/#setting-a-featured-image" rel="nofollow ugc">Featured Image</a> on that page.</li>
<li>Go to Appearance > Widgets or Customize > Widgets.</li>
<li>Add an instance of the “Feature a Page Widget” to the widget area (Sidebar, Footer, etc.) of your choosing.</li>
<li>Select the page, choose a layout, and optionally give the widget a title.</li>
<li>Save the widget!</li>
<li>Admire your handiwork.</li>
</ol>
<p>This plugin enables Featured Images (aka “Post Thumbnails”) and Excerpts for Pages and Posts (by default) with the ability to support custom post types. If you don’t see one or both of those fields, they may be hidden in the “Screen Options” (top-right corner) while editing a Page or Post.</p>
<h4>Important Note: Image Sizes</h4>
<p>This plugin creates multiple custom image sizes. If you use images that were uploaded to the  media library before you installed this plugin, you may need to use a plugin like <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/regenerate-thumbnails/" rel="ugc">Regenerate Thumbnails</a> to create the correctly-sized images.</p>
<h4>Customizing the Widget</h4>
<p>There are multiple ways to modify the widget based on your needs:</p>
<ol>
<li>Prewritten CSS selectors in <code>/css/fpw_starter_styles.css</code> to help you get started with custom CSS styles in a child theme or the Custom CSS Customizer field</li>
<li>Three default overridable templates and the ability to create custom templates</li>
<li>Eight filters to modify most parts of the widget output (Title, Read More, Image sizes, etc.)</li>
<li>Interested in commissioning a custom layout just for your site? <a href="https://mrwweb.com/contact/" rel="nofollow ugc">Get in touch.</a></li>
</ol>
<p>See <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/feature-a-page-widget/faq/" rel="ugc">the FAQs</a> for links to code snippets with inline documentation.</p>
<h4>Like the Plugin?</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/view/plugin-reviews/feature-a-page-widget" rel="ugc">We love 5-star ratings!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.paypal.me/rootwiley" rel="nofollow ugc">Donations accepted</a></li>
</ul>
<h4>Available Languages</h4>
<p>Please <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/feature-a-page-widget" rel="nofollow ugc">help translate Feature A Page Widget</a>. Users have contributed translations in the following languages:</p>
<p>English (default), German (<code>de_DE</code>), Serbian (<code>sr_RS</code>), Polish (<code>pl_PL</code>), Spanish (<code>es_ES</code>), Italian (<code>it_IT</code>), Dutch (<code>nl_NL</code>)</p>
<h4>Other Plugins by @MRWweb</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/mrw-web-design-simple-tinymce/" rel="ugc">MRW Web Design Simple TinyMCE</a> – Get rid of bad and obscure TinyMCE buttons. Move the rest to a single top row. Comes with a bit of help for adding custom CSS classes too.</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/post-status-menu-items/" rel="ugc">Post Status Menu Items</a> – Adds post status links–e.g. “Draft” (7)–to post type admin menus.</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/post-type-archive-descriptions/" rel="ugc">Post Type Archive Description</a> – Enables an editable description for a post type to display at the top of the post type archive page.</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/hawaiian-characters/" rel="ugc">Hawaiian Characters</a> – Adds the correct characters with diacriticals to the WordPress editor Character Map for Hawaiian</li>
</ul>


Feature A Page Widget

A widget to display an attractive summary of any page in any widget area.

Visual Recent Posts vs Feature A Page Widget