how to display recent posts by category in WordPress

Displaying recent posts by category in WordPress is an essential technique for enhancing user engagement and effectively organizing content on your website. Whether you are running a blog, a news website, or any site that frequently updates its content, breaking down posts into categories allows visitors to navigate easily and directly to topics that interest them the most. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to achieve this task using different methods such as widgets, plugins, and custom code.

Using the Default WordPress Widgets

WordPress comes with built-in widgets that can be easily configured to display recent posts from specific categories. Here’s how to use these widgets:

1. Navigate to Widgets: Go to your WordPress dashboard, click on ‘Appearance’, and then select ‘Widgets’. This area allows you to add and manage the widgets for your website.

2. Find the Recent Posts Widget: Look for the ‘Recent Posts’ widget in the available widgets list.

3. Configure the Widget:

   • Drag and drop the Recent Posts widget to your desired sidebar or widget area.
   • Open the widget settings by clicking on it. Here, you can set the title for the widget, decide how many posts to show, and most importantly, filter posts by category. Some themes and setups might only show basic options; in this case, further customization will require additional tools or custom coding.

4. Save and Preview: After setting it up, click ‘Save’ and then preview your site to see the changes.

Utilizing Plugins for Advanced Features

For more sophisticated functionality or when your theme does not support category filtering in the default widget, plugins are a great solution. Here are some widely used plugins:

• Content Views:

  • This plugin allows you to beautifully display WordPress posts in grid and list layouts without any programming.
  • After installing and activating the plugin, use its ‘Add New View’ feature to create a view. In the settings, you can specify the category from which to display the posts, define the layout, and set other preferences like pagination.

• WP Show Posts:

  • Install and activate the plugin from the WordPress repository.
  • Create a list under ‘WP Show Posts’ in the dashboard, and configure the settings to filter by category, define the number of posts, and customize the appearance.

• Category Posts Widget:

  • This plugin is specifically designed to display recent posts from a selected category.
  • Upon installation, go to ‘Appearance’ > ‘Widgets’, and add the ‘Category Posts’ widget to your sidebar.
  • Configure settings such as the title, category selection, number of posts, and display format.

Custom Coding

If you prefer not to use plugins and are comfortable with coding, or if you want a tailor-made solution, you can manually query and display recent posts by category using PHP:

 'your-category-id', // Insert your category ID
    'posts_per_page' => 5 // Number of posts to show
);
$query = new WP_Query($args);

if($query->have_posts()) :
    while($query->have_posts()): $query->the_post();
?>
        

        

• Code Explanation:
  • Replace 'your-category-id' with the actual category ID you want the posts to be displayed from.
  • This code snippet needs to be added to the appropriate theme file where you’d like the posts to appear, often this might be a sidebar or a footer file.

Best Practices for Displaying Recent Posts

When displaying recent posts by category, here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Consistency: Ensure that the style and format of the post listings are consistent with the rest of your website for seamless user experience.
• Performance: When using plugins, be cautious about the impact on website speed. Efficient plugins that cache results will generally perform better.
• Responsive Design: Make sure that the post displays are mobile-friendly, adapting dynamically to different device screens.
• User Navigation: Include options for users to view more posts or navigate to other categories, enhancing overall engagement.

By following these detailed steps, incorporating the right tools, and considering best practices, you can effectively enhance your WordPress website’s functionality and user experience by showcasing recent posts categorized to match the interests and needs of your audience.