Recent Category Posts Widget
by George Stephanis · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 22 other plugins · 15.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
This widget will let you display a list of the most recent posts in a single category in your sidebar.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 81/100
Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈350 estimated
Momentum
+72%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “most recent”, “category posts widget” and “most recent posts” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #6 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
81 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.3%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 22.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,189 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 144 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
18%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| recent | #5 | #17 | down 2 |
| most recent | #5 | #22 | up 1 |
| category posts widget | #6 | #23 | down 1 |
| most recent posts | #6 | #23 | 0 |
| category posts | #8 | #23 | down 1 |
| recent posts widget | #6 | #19 | 0 |
| recent posts | #10 | #21 | down 3 |
| posts widget | #15 | #24 | down 4 |
| recent posts sidebar | #6 | #20 | 0 |
| category widget | #15 | #23 | 0 |
| categories posts widget | #9 | #24 | — |
| recent post widget | #16 | #23 | down 1 |
| most recent post | #10 | #23 | down 1 |
| recent post | #21 | #21 | down 2 |
| categories widget | #22 | #24 | 0 |
| display posts by category | #20 | #24 | — |
| posts category | #20 | #24 | up 1 |
| widget categories | #21 | #24 | down 2 |
| posts by category | #22 | #24 | down 1 |
| category post | #21 | #24 | up 1 |
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| category your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
25 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 4 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “most recent”, “category posts widget” and “most recent posts” to your wp.org tags. You rank #5, #6 and #6 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 238 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v2.0.1 · 10 Jun 2026
3
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 7 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 6 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ grindhoused7911.5y ago
perfect – the only one that matches your theme’s fonts. No need to mess around with code or child themes.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ MisterR11.9y ago
It is exactly what I needed. No additional styles or extra options. Just put the title, pick category from a drop-down list and set number of posts to show. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "This widget will let you display a list of the most recent posts in a single category in your sidebar."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you want"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 325 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "categories" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-04-13 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-04-11 300+ → 400+ up after 54 days in tier
- 2026-02-16 400+ → 300+ down after 262 days in tier
- 2025-05-30 500+ → 400+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2025-05-27 400+ → 500+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-05-24 500+ → 400+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2025-05-20 400+ → 500+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-05-19 500+ → 400+ down after 220 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- R Recent Posts by Category Widget 4K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
-
PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Media Library Categories 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
Flexible Posts Widget 7K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D -
Collapsing Categories 4K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Recent Category Posts Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/category-posts-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Recent Category Posts Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Recent Category Posts Widget: 300+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/category-posts-widget
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