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Advanced Random Posts Widget

By Ga Satrya

Content Management / Blog & Article Publishing

Advanced Random Posts Widget Review - In-Depth Analysis

Advanced Random Posts Widget enables displaying random posts with thumbnails and excerpts. It supports customizations via shortcode or widget.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.67/10

User Rating

4/5 (based on 39+ reviews)

Active Installations

10,000+

Update Frequency

Below Average It is calculated using the weighted average of same category plugins.

Security Score

1 / 10 (Very Low Risk) It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.

What It Does

The Advanced Random Posts Widget allows users to display a list of random posts in a flexible manner. You can use shortcodes or widgets to show posts with thumbnails, excerpts, and post dates. The plugin supports displaying posts from all or specific categories, tags, or taxonomies.

Features include customizable thumbnail sizes and alignment, customizable excerpt lengths, and the ability to add custom HTML or text before or after the random posts. You can also set custom CSS classes for each widget and display multiple widgets simultaneously.

This plugin is no longer supported, and users are encouraged to switch to the Recent Posts Widget Extended for continued functionality.

Comparing to Alternatives

Advanced Random Posts Widget offers a straightforward way to display random posts, but it faces competition from several plugins with more features and active support.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and effective random post display.
Lightweight with minimal configuration.
Compatible with older WordPress versions.
No complex setup required.

Weaknesses

Lacks support for modern image formats like AVIF.
No recent updates or active development.
Limited customization options compared to alternatives.
Security concerns due to abandonment.

User Sentiment Analysis

User feedback highlights both the plugin's usefulness and concerns about its maintenance status.

Positive highlights

'This plugin is really excellent.' - sylvsteph
'It works so well it hasn't needed any updates for 2 years.' - WebSprite
'This is a super helpful plugin.' - diraph
'Great useful plugin.' - saeed

Common complaints

Plugin appears abandoned with no recent updates.
Lack of support for newer image formats like AVIF.
Security warnings due to inactivity.
No response from developer in support forums.

Weaknesses

No updates to address security flags.
Does not strip formatting from excerpts as some users desire.
Compatibility with latest WordPress versions is uncertain.
Limited feature set compared to newer plugins.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a simple, no-frills widget to display random posts on their site without needing advanced customization.

Not ideal for

Those who require active support, frequent updates, modern features, or enhanced security should consider alternative plugins.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version provides basic functionality to display random posts with minimal setup and no cost.

Final Verdict

Advanced Random Posts Widget is a straightforward and effective tool for displaying random posts, appreciated for its simplicity and ease of use.

However, the lack of updates and developer support raises security and compatibility concerns, making it less suitable for users needing a robust, actively maintained solution.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Advanced Random Posts Widget plugin.

Random Posts

Sidebar

Thumbnail

Widget

Widgets

Screenshots

FAQ

Your theme needs to support Post Thumbnail, please go to https://codex.wordpress.org/Post_Thumbnails to read more info and how to activate it in your theme.

The plugin comes with a very basic style, if you want to add custom style please do wp_dequeue_style to remove the default stylesheet. Place the code below in your theme functions.php.

function prefix_remove_arpw_style() {     wp_dequeue_style( 'arpw-style' ); } add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'prefix_remove_arpw_style', 10 );

Then you can add your custom style using Custom CSS plugin or in your theme style.css. Here’s the plugin selector

/* ul */ .arpw-ul {}  /* li */ .arpw-li {}  /* title */ .arpw-title {}  /* thumbnail */ .arpw-thumbnail {}  /* date */ .arpw-time {}  /* excerpt */ .arpw-summary {}