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Recent Posts by Category Widget

By Ross Cornell

Content Management / Blog & Article Publishing

Reviewed by Abdul Hameid

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

6.83/10

User Rating

4.7/5 (based on 12+ reviews)

Active Installations

4,000+

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

This plugin adds a simple widget that allows you to display a number of recent blog posts from a specific category. You have the options to choose a title, category, number of posts and whether or not to show the post date.

The posts will be ordered by date just like the default Recent Posts widget included with WordPress.

Comparing to Alternatives

Recent Posts by Category Widget is a straightforward plugin focused on displaying recent posts filtered by category. It competes with several similar plugins offering various features for recent post displays.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Simple and easy to use interface
Preserves default theme CSS styles
Lightweight with no known security vulnerabilities
Highly rated with mostly 5-star reviews
Good for displaying recent posts by single category

Weaknesses

Does not support multisite installations
Cannot select multiple categories at once
Limited customization options compared to some alternatives

User Sentiment Analysis

The plugin enjoys a high overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 based on 12 reviews, with the majority being 5-star. Users appreciate its simplicity and ease of use, though a small minority report issues with multisite compatibility.

Positive highlights

'Works fine, very helpful.' - Abbas
'Very good and simple plugin.' - Jacques Malgrange
'Preserves the default styles CSS of the original theme, that’s great!' - mengeco
'Installation and use is simple and practical.' - ElectricMud (except multisite issue)

Common complaints

Does not support multisite WordPress installations

Weaknesses

Lacks multisite support
No option to select multiple categories simultaneously
Limited advanced features compared to other plugins

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users seeking a lightweight, easy-to-use widget to display recent posts filtered by a single category on standard WordPress installations.

Not ideal for

Those running multisite WordPress setups or needing to display posts from multiple categories simultaneously or requiring advanced customization options.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers basic functionality to display recent posts by category with simple styling that integrates well with themes.

Final Verdict

Recent Posts by Category Widget is a reliable and straightforward plugin that excels in simplicity and ease of use, making it a solid choice for users who want to display recent posts by category without fuss. Its strong rating and lack of security issues add to its appeal.

However, its lack of multisite support and inability to select multiple categories limit its usefulness for more complex setups. Users needing these features should consider alternative plugins from the available options.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Recent Posts by Category Widget plugin.

Screenshots

FAQ

Upload the ‘recent-posts-by-category-widget’ directory to the ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Navigate to the ‘Widgets’ page found under the ‘Appearance’ menu item
Drag ‘Recent Posts by Category Widget’ to the target widget area and choose your options