Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails
by Kybernetik Services · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 9 other plugins · 164.9K+ installs across the portfolio →
List the most recent posts with post titles, thumbnails, excerpts, authors, categories, dates and more!
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Health
A 91/100
no flags
Active installs
100K+
≈170K estimated
Momentum
+491%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “featured image” and “sidebar” for “excerpts” and “post titles”. “featured image” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “excerpts” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “sidebar” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “post titles” sits at #9 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
91 health vs 56 average across 5,902 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.7%
of downloads still active
At least 100K of 3.7M lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,194 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 2 releases 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 24 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.8★ over 215 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.7★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
2 of 2 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
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.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
20%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.5
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent posts your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| thumbnails your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| most recent | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| most recent posts | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| most recent post | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent custom posts | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent posts shortcode | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| new posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| category posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| categories posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| post type posts widget | #1 | #1 | — |
| recent post | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| featured posts widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| recent comments widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| wordpress thumbnails | #1 | #1 | up 1 |
| pro recent post widget | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| posts with thumbnails | #1 | #1 | — |
| featured image your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
550 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 446 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “featured image” and “sidebar” for “excerpts” and “post titles”. “featured image” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “excerpts” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “sidebar” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “post titles” sits at #9 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- Under-ranked on “sidebar”. wp.org puts you #24; on merit you place #12. The plugins above you are winning on install count, not on rating or upkeep.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 71.4K · peaks are release surges
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
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.
2
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v7.2.0 · 13 Sep 2026
7
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “100K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 16 months ago; the previous band took 5.1 years to cross, which places it about 73% of the way through.
Install history since 1 Jan 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ rapidasia9mo ago
gotta have plugin, thanks
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Lera1.1y ago
It’s great that your plugin has so many settings for widgets. Thanks for making it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ funkster1.3y ago
This plugin performs a simple task but one that I find to be invaluable.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ techspecx1.8y ago
Hello, I hope all is well. The plugin worked flawlessy for years but now I am getting the below message when I debug my site. Could you help? The plugin works fine when I have the debug off. Thank you. Regards,Robert Warning: Undefined array key “rand” in /var/www/mysite.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails.php on line 138 This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by techspecx.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ evolute21.9y ago
Bravo, le paramétrage peut être fait au millimètre, excellent !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jeanedwa2.1y ago
Works perfectly- recent posts can be displayed in sidebar with or without thumbnails. Brilliant!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ elcondorito2.1y ago
Lots of options. Well thought of.The only problem is the LI elements where too far apart vertically. I guess my theme is at stake. So I added a bit of CSS to correct that : #rpwwt-recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails-2 > ul > li { margin: 0;} Thanks !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Marc733.1y ago
Looks like an interesting plugin. NO matter what I set the thumbnail size to, the thumbnails remained 75×75…..
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 7.1.1 Restored PHP 5.x support 7.1.1
- — Version 7.1.0 Added feature for post order and sorting (feature request: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/sort-posts-by-title/) Added class .rpwwt-post-excerpt-more for the “more” text following the excerpt. (feature request: https 7.1.0
- — Version 7.0.3 new branding Tested successfully with WordPress 5.6.2 7.0.3
- — Version 7.0.2 Corrected comments in uninstall.php Tested successfully with WordPress 5.6 7.0.2
- — Version 7.0.1 Added catalan translation, thanks to Ibidem Group Tested successfully with WordPress 5.5.3 7.0.1
- — Version 7.0.0 Added option for omitting all alternative texts of images to improve accessibility Added ARIA attribute for the list item of the current page to improve accessibility Revised output if the post has no title Revised thumb 7.0.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 35 languages, 11 at 90% or more
Plus 11 more locales with partial translations.
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 3 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 8 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 8 of 8 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you want", "use it", "suitable for").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Elementor, Oxygen, HubSpot, YouTube.
- ✓ Headings and lists 9 headings and 15 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 7,957 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-06-29 200K+ → 100K+ down after 1846 days in tier
- 2020-06-09 100K+ → 200K+ up after 1037 days in tier
- 2017-08-07 90K+ → 100K+ up after 35 days in tier
- 2017-07-03 70K+ → 90K+ up after 87 days in tier
- 2017-04-07 60K+ → 70K+ up after 113 days in tier
- 2016-12-15 50K+ → 60K+ up after 111 days in tier
- 2016-08-26 40K+ → 50K+ up after 167 days in tier
- 2016-03-12 30K+ → 40K+ up after 102 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).
- U Ultimate Posts Widget 10K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags C
- R Recent Posts by Category Widget 4K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Image Widget 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Fixed Widget and Sticky Elements for WordPress 70K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags D -
Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails: 100K+ active installs, 4.8★ (215 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/recent-posts-widget-with-thumbnails
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