The (Govintra) Blog posts widget lists the newest blog posts, with each blogger’s photo and name, and hides posts older than a freshness period so the list never looks stale. It works anywhere widgets go and is usually placed on the homepage. It needs the Blog module to be on under Options, Modules. Go to Appearance, then Widgets, and add (Govintra) Blog posts to a widget area.
Widget settings
Title
The heading above the list. The default is “Blog posts”.
Number of posts
How many posts to show, including any pinned posts. The default is 3.
Freshness (days)
Only posts published within this many days are shown. The default is 14. Enter 0 to show the newest posts however old they are. If no post is fresh enough and nothing is pinned, the widget is left out of the page altogether, title included.
Cache (minutes)
Keeps a copy of the widget’s output for this many minutes so busy pages load faster. The default is 0, which is off. A cached widget takes up to that many minutes to show a new post.
Layout
- Cards (two-column): the default. Each post is a card, two across, with the optional featured image on top and the blogger’s photo and name at the foot.
- Cards (single column): the same cards stacked one above the other, for a narrow column.
- Listing: compact rows with the blogger’s photo on the left and the title, excerpt, name and date on the right. Best for a longer list.
In the Homepage full-width area the cards go four across and the listing flows into columns, whatever you choose here.
Featured image on first
Appears when Layout is Listing. Shows the first post’s featured image full width above its row, so the newest post stands out. Later rows are unaffected, and if the first post has no featured image it is shown as a normal row.
Show thumbnails
Appears when Layout is one of the Cards choices. Shows each post’s featured image on its card. A post with no featured image gets a card without a picture. The blogger’s photo is always shown at the foot of the card whether this is on or off.
Show excerpt
Adds the post’s excerpt under its title, or the first 15 words of the post if it has no excerpt.
Show “More” link
Adds a link at the foot of the widget to the blog listing page chosen as Blog page under Options, Modules, Blog tab. If exactly one blog category is ticked below, the link opens that page already filtered to the category.
More link text
Appears when the More link is on. The wording of the link; the default is “More blog posts”.
Blog categories and pinned posts
Two more settings sit under the form, in the Blog posts widget panel.
Blog categories
Tick one or more categories to show only posts in them. Leave all unticked for every category. See Blog categories.
Pin posts
Search for and select posts to keep at the top of the list, in the order you arrange them. Pinned posts carry a Featured badge, are shown whatever their age or category, and count towards the number of posts, so pinning two posts in a widget set to show three leaves one slot for the newest post. You can pin news stories and events here as well as blog posts.
What each post shows
The title, the date, a comment count if the post has comments, a like count if likes are on, and the blogger’s photo and display name. Titles and images link to the post. Blog posts with the Link format go to their external address instead.
Related
- Blog page template: the listing page the More link goes to.
- Setup widgets on the homepage.
- Available widgets.