Featured Posts Pro
allows administrator and editor an option to set posts, pages & custom posts as a featured posts very easily. Posts, pages & custom posts can be set as featured posts using a checkbox on the posts list page or on the…
Consider an alternative
Featured Posts Pro shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 4.2/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 34/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- No update in 7 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.1 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Featured Posts Pro stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| featured | >100 |
| featured post widget | >100 |
| featured posts | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.2 from 5 reviews
About Featured Posts Pro
From the official readme · v1.4Description
Featured Posts Pro
allows administrator and editor an option to set posts, pages & custom posts as a featured posts very easily. Posts, pages & custom posts can be set as featured posts using a checkbox on the posts list page or on the edit page of the post. Please see screenshots to be more clear.
Featured Posts Pro
also adds a widget that will list the recent featured posts. This is similar to the default recent posts widget except this widget displays recent featured posts instead. The template for the Featured Posts Pro Widget can be customized with your theme.
How to use in the theme
You can to get the featured posts, you need to make a custom query as follows
sample code to get the featured posts with orders
`$args = array(
‘post_type’ => ‘any’,
‘posts_per_page’ => 10,
‘no_found_rows’ => true,
‘post_status’ => ‘publish’,
‘ignore_sticky_posts’ => true,
‘meta_query’ => array(
array(
‘relation’ => ‘OR’,
array(
‘key’ => ‘post_featured_position’,
‘compare’ => ‘EXISTS’
),
array(
‘key’ => ‘post_featured_position’,
‘compare’ => ‘NOT EXISTS’
),
),
array(
‘relation’ => ‘AND’,
‘key’ => ‘is_post_featured’,
‘compare’ => ‘=’,
‘value’ => 1
)
),
‘orderby’ => ‘meta_value_num’,
‘order’ => ‘ASC’,
) ;
$featuredPosts = new WP_Query( $args );<h3>sample code to get the featured posts without order</h3>$args = array(
‘posts_per_page’ => 10,
‘no_found_rows’ => true,
‘post_status’ => ‘publish’,
‘ignore_sticky_posts’ => true,
‘meta_key’ => ‘is_post_featured’ //this is the meta key used for the featured posts
) ;
$featuredPosts = new WP_Query( $args );`
or if you simple want tp
How to customize the widget
You can customize the widget template as follows:
1. create a folder ‘featured_posts_pro_tpls’ inside your theme folder
2. create two php files named as ‘tpl_featured_posts_pro_large.php’ & ‘tpl_featured_posts_pro_small.php’ in the ‘featured_posts_pro_tpls’ folder you just created
3. template file ‘tpl_featured_posts_pro_large.php’ will be used to render the widget when widget size is selected as large & similarly ‘tpl_featured_posts_pro_small.php’ is for small widget size
3. copy and paste the content from plugin_fold er > featured-posts-pro > public > partials > featured_posts_pro-widget.php in the above two files
4. make the layout changes as you wish.
Installation
- Install using the WordPress built-in Plugin installer, or Extract the zip file and drop the contents in the
wp-content/plugins/directory of your WordPress installation. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- If you want to use the widget, then go to Apperance > Widgets > Featured Post Pro
- The options on the widget are self explained
Changelog
1.3.0
The ability to include custom post types for the featured posts. The featured post can now be ordered.
1.3.2
‘Posts’ post type is selected by default
1.3.5
bug on ‘quick edit’ on posts page fixed
1.3.8
bug fixes
1.4
fixed bug that prevented the plugin to be used on child theme. Thx to Shane Bill on identifying this issue.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Featured Posts Pro alternatives
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Featured Posts Pro: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 13, 2026
Is Featured Posts Pro free?
Yes. Featured Posts Pro is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Featured Posts Pro safe to use in 2026?
Featured Posts Pro shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 4.2/5 and was last updated 8 years ago, and scores 34/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Featured Posts Pro?
Featured Posts Pro is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 4,513 times since it launched in October 2016. It was downloaded 97 times in the last 30 days.
Does Featured Posts Pro work with WordPress 7.1?
Featured Posts Pro is officially tested up to WordPress 5.1.27, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Featured Posts Pro last updated?
The latest version, 1.4, was released on April 4, 2019 (8 years ago).
Who makes Featured Posts Pro?
Featured Posts Pro is developed and maintained by thapa.laxman.
What are the best alternatives to Featured Posts Pro?
The most popular alternatives to Featured Posts Pro are Featured Image from URL (FI… (60K+ installs), Conditionally display featu… (30K+ installs) and Hide Featured Image (10K+ installs).
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