Recent Posts
Recent Posts displays a list of your blog’s newest posts. The output can be customised in many ways.
Consider an alternative
Recent Posts shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 500+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 27/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (500+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 18 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 2.6 (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 Recent Posts stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| latest | >100 |
| newest | >100 |
| posts | >100 |
| recent | >100 |
| recent posts | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Recent Posts
From the official readme · v2.6.2.0Description
Recent Posts displays a list of your blog’s newest posts. The output can be customised in many ways.
This plugin requires the latest version of the Post-Plugin Library: download it now.
Version History
- 2.6.2.0
- new {imagealt} output tag — rather like {imagesrc}
- {excerpt} can now trim to whole sentences
- content filter can now take parameter string
- widget can now take parameter string
- output can be appended to posts & feeds
- 2.6.1.0
- the current post can be marked manually
- widgets now honour the option to show no output if list is empty
- 2.6.0.1
- bug fix: installation code was failing on some systems
- 2.6.0.0
- version bump to indicate compatibility with WP 2.6
- fix to really include attachments
- new parameter for {imagesrc} to append a suffix to the image name, e.g. to get the thumbnail for attachments
- 2.5.0.11
- new option to include attachments
- {php} tag now accepts nested tags
- new output tag {authorurl} — permalink to archive of author’s posts
- 2.5.0.10
- fix for page selection in old versions of WP
- made omit current post try harder to find current post ID
- 2.5.0.9
- new option to order by date of last edit rather than date of creation
- new option to match the current post’s author
- extended options for snippet and excerpt output tags
- 2.5.0.7
- new option to show by status, i.e., published/private/draft/future
- {categorynames} and {categorylinks} apply ‘single_cat_name’ filter
- fixes bug in WP pre-2.2 causing installation to fail
- 2.5.0
- {image} has new post, link, and default parameters
- new {imagesrc} tag
- fix to empty category bug
- excluded posts bug fix
- fix for intermittent bug with ‘omit current post’ option
- 2.5b26
- reverted thumbnail serving (speed)
- fix current post after extra query
- 2.5b25
- option to sort output, group templates
- removed ‘trim_before’ option added more logical ‘divider’
- {date:raw}, {commentdate:raw}, etc.
- fix for {image} resizing when and not
- {image} now serves real thumbnails
- 2.5b24
- fix for recursive replacement by content filter
- fix to {gravatar} to allow for ‘identicon’ etc.
- fix to {commenter} to allow trimming
- fix a warning in safe mode
- 2.5b23
- new option to filter on custom fields
- nested braces in {if}; condition now taggable
- improved bug report feature
- better way to omit user comments
- 2.5b22
- show_pages option can now show only pages
- fixes for tag bugs
- 2.5b19
- fix for content replacement filter
- 2.5b18
- fix output filter bug
- add conditional tag {if:condition:yes:no}
- 2.5b16
- fix for {php}
- 2.5b15
- fix bugs, add ‘included posts’ setting
- 2.5b14
- fix file-encoding, installation error, etc.
- 2.5b11
- some widget fixes
-
2.5b9
- clarifying installation instructions
Installation
-
IMPORTANT! If you are upgrading from a previous version first deactivate the plugin, then delete the plugin folder from your server.
-
Upload the plugin folder to your /wp-content/plugins/ folder. If you haven’t already you should also install the Post-Plugin Library>.
-
Go to the Plugins page and activate the plugin.
-
Put
<?php recent_posts(); ?>at the place in your template where you want the list to appear or use the plugin as a widget. -
Use the Options/Settings page to adjust the behaviour of the plugin.
My web site has full instructions and information on customisation.
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 Recent Posts alternatives
All latest plugins →FAQ
Recent Posts: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 30, 2026
Is Recent Posts free?
Yes. Recent Posts is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Recent Posts safe to use in 2026?
Recent Posts shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 500+ sites and was last updated 18 years ago, and scores 27/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Recent Posts?
Recent Posts is active on 500+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 73,411 times since it launched in March 2008. It was downloaded 104 times in the last 30 days.
Does Recent Posts work with WordPress 7.1?
Recent Posts is officially tested up to WordPress 2.6.2, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Recent Posts last updated?
The latest version, 2.6.2.0, was released on September 9, 2008 (18 years ago).
Who makes Recent Posts?
Recent Posts is developed and maintained by RobMarsh.
What are the best alternatives to Recent Posts?
The most popular alternatives to Recent Posts are Recent Comments (200+ installs), ETH Redirect to Latest Post (100+ installs) and Get Post (100+ installs).
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