Recent Posts by Category Widget

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory rank vs rivals

wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 99% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.

1. ★★★★★ Jacques Malgrange

   9.7y ago

   Very good and simple plugin.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ ElectricMud

   9.8y ago

   Installation and use is simple and practical (5 stars) but it does not support Multi Site, hence the 2 stars

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ Abbas

   10.8y ago

   Works fine, very helpful. Thanks

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ mengeco

   11.0y ago

   This plugin would be perfect if we could select multiple categories. Maybe for the next update? It preserves the default styles css of the original theme, that’s great !! Thank you very much Ross !!!!

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Andrija Naglic

   11.0y ago

   Works just fine with latest version of wp, and is just what I needed, a simple and efficient wp plugin for recent posts filtered by category, no extra features.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ Jason King

   11.1y ago

   Smart little plugin that’s no bigger than it needs to be, and improves on the default recent posts plugin by adding the ability to choose a category of posts to display.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ cutero

   11.1y ago

   Very usefull!

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ thorshammer

   11.2y ago

   Thanks for the no-hassle plugin.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 1.3 Removed an anonymous function that was breaking sites running PHP 5.2 1.3
2. — Version 1.2 Switch to PHP5 style constructors for WP v4.3 1.2
3. — Version 1.1 Better use of ‘widget_title’ filter to allow hooks to be used on it. 1.1
4. — Version 1.0 Initial release. 1.0

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2024-10-29 5K+ → 4K+ down after 479 days in tier
2. 2023-07-08 6K+ → 5K+ down

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).

• Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A
• Category Posts Block 40K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A
• List Custom Taxonomy Widget 9K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A
• Collapsing Categories 4K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B
• Categorized Tag Cloud 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags B
• C Custom Recent Posts Widget 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Recent Posts by Category Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Recent Posts by Category Widget: 4K+ active installs, 4.7★ (12 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-29. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/recent-posts-by-category-widget