Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails

List the most recent posts with post titles, thumbnails, excerpts, authors, categories, dates and more!

Although the plugin is built only for widget areas users reported that it works in Elementor and works in Oxygen. Whether it runs in other page builders is unknown. Please let me know in which page builder you were able to use the plugin successfully.

The plugin does not collect any personal data, so it is ready for EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance.

Lightweight, simple and effective

No huge widget with hundreds of options. This plugin is based on the well-known WordPress default widget ‘Recent Posts’ and extended to display more information about the posts like e.g. thumbnails, excerpts and assigned categories. And it provides more options to build custom-taylored posts lists.

The thumbnails will be built from the featured image of a post or of the first image in the post content. If there is neither a featured image nor a content image then you can define a default thumbnail.

You can set the width and height of the thumbnails in the list. The thumbnails appear left-aligned to the post titles in left-to-right languages. In right-to-left languages they appear right-aligned.

Custom Post Type

If you want to list custom post types with the featured image, please check out our plugin Ultimate Post List Pro.

Demo

You want to test Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails before installing on your site? Try it out on your individual and free playground site and click here.

What users wrote

• “This plugin performs a simple task but one that I find to be invaluable.” reviews by funkster on July 1, 2025
• “I just want to say thank you for developing such a good plugin.” in the reviews by modelaid on July 3, 2024
• “Excellent plugin!” in the reviews by mystnick on April 18, 2023
• “… one of the dynamic and smart, yet admin and user optimized widget plugins …” in How to Add Widgets and Start Using Them in WordPress Website? by SKT Posts Themes on September 3, 2020
• “بهترین افزونه های نمایش آخرین نوشته ها در وردپرس” in ابزارک آخرین نوشته وردپرس by Ghodsi on December 16, 2019
• “Another good all around widget, suitable for most projects” in Free WordPress recent posts widget – Which one is the best? on December 3, 2019
• “In just a few clicks, your website will look considerably more established and professional.” in 3 Best WordPress Thumbnail Plugins to Manage Images Perfectly by HubSpot Staff on October 29, 2019
• The best of the recent posts widgets in the reviews by noddemix on June 13, 2019
• Number 8 in 14 Plugins para Otimizar seu Site by Ideias Dig on November 8, 2018
• “Truly EXCELLENT Plugin!” in the reviews by dnuttal on October 11, 2018
• “Easier than making an egg, seriously.” in the reviews by djackofall on October 2, 2017
• “This plugin is INCREDIBLE” in the reviews by lucio7 on August 25, 2017
• Widgets Users Will Love in 10 Ultra-Useful Free WordPress Widget Plugins by Eric Karkovack on June 16, 2017
• listed in 20 WordPress Plugins that Steals Attention to Engage Visitors of Your Site by WP Team Support on March 6, 2017
• Number 1 in 8 essential WordPress widgets to supercharge your website by Rafay Ansari on January 31, 2017
• “Excellent (after trying a few)!” in the reviews by giorgissimo on January 6, 2017

What users filmed

Some users published video tutorials on YouTube:

• Class 09 – Working with Plugins (Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails) by WordPress Learning Bangladesh on March 7, 2017
• Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails Setup Tutorial – WordPress Lesson and Tip by Making a Website on April 17, 2016
• Add Recent Posts Widget with Thumbnail – WordPress by eMediaCoach on August 15, 2015

Read the full description on the official page →