Popular Posts | inventivo
A widget that lists your most discussed posts with thumbnail, date and comment count.
Solid choice
Popular Posts | inventivo is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. Was last updated 3 weeks ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.
- Actively developed — last update 3 weeks ago
- Tested with the latest WordPress (7.1)
- Small user base (<10 active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
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Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Popular Posts | inventivo stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| comments | >100 |
| popular posts | >100 |
| posts | >100 |
| sidebar | >100 |
| widget | >100 |
About Popular Posts | inventivo
From the official readme · v1.0.1Description
WordPress has no built-in widget for popular posts. This plugin adds one.
The widget lists published posts ordered by the number of comments they received, so the posts your readers talked about most appear first. Each entry shows the featured image, the post title, the publication date and the comment count.
The widget can be placed in any widget area your theme provides, for example a sidebar or a footer.
What it does
- Adds one widget called “inventivo: Popular Posts”.
- Lets you set a title and the number of posts to show, between 1 and 20.
- Orders posts by comment count, highest first.
- Shows the featured image only when the post has one.
- Loads its stylesheet only on pages where the widget is actually rendered.
What it does not do
- No tracking of page views, and no visitor data is collected or stored.
- No connection to any external service.
- No settings page, no database tables, no scheduled tasks.
- No JavaScript in the frontend.
Ordering
“Popular” here means “most commented”. The plugin deliberately does not count page views, because counting views requires either tracking visitors or an external service, and this plugin does neither.
Installation
- Install the plugin through the Plugins screen in WordPress, or upload the folder
popular-posts-inventivoto/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Appearance, then Widgets, and add “inventivo: Popular Posts” to a widget area.
Frequently asked questions
Can I order posts by page views instead of comments?
No. Counting page views would mean tracking visitors or relying on an external service. This plugin does neither, so it orders by comment count.
Why do some posts have no image?
The image is the featured image of the post. Posts without a featured image are shown without one, and the text takes the full width.
Does the widget work in a block theme?
Yes, in any widget area the theme registers. Block themes that do not register classic widget areas do not show classic widgets at all, which is a property of the theme and not of this plugin.
Does the plugin load anything from an external server?
No. The stylesheet is served from your own installation, and no requests leave your site.
Changelog
1.0.1
- The plugin URI and the author URI are now different addresses, as required by the directory.
1.0.0
- First release in the plugin directory.
- Rewritten from the ground up: all output is escaped, all input is sanitized and range checked.
- Fixed a bug where an invalid number of posts was not stored correctly.
- The stylesheet is now versioned and only loaded when the widget is rendered.
- Removed a dependency on an icon font that was not part of the plugin.
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.
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FAQ
Popular Posts | inventivo: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 6, 2026
Is Popular Posts | inventivo free?
Yes. Popular Posts | inventivo is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Popular Posts | inventivo safe to use in 2026?
Popular Posts | inventivo is a solid plugin choice in 2026, with a few things worth checking first. Was last updated 3 weeks ago, and scores 64/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Popular Posts | inventivo?
Popular Posts | inventivo is active on <10 WordPress websites and has been downloaded 332 times since it launched in September 2026. It was downloaded 140 times in the last 30 days.
Does Popular Posts | inventivo work with WordPress 7.1?
Yes. The developer has tested Popular Posts | inventivo up to WordPress 7.1.3, the latest release. It requires WordPress 6.5 or newer.
What PHP version does Popular Posts | inventivo need?
Popular Posts | inventivo requires PHP 7.4 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.
When was Popular Posts | inventivo last updated?
The latest version, 1.0.1, was released on September 14, 2026 (3 weeks ago).
Who makes Popular Posts | inventivo?
Popular Posts | inventivo is developed and maintained by Nils Harder.
What are the best alternatives to Popular Posts | inventivo?
The most popular alternatives to Popular Posts | inventivo are Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Pro… (5M+ installs), Disable Comments (1M+ installs) and Antispam Bee (700K+ installs).
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