WordPress Static Random Posts Widget
Filed under WordPress
After searching for some random posts widgets for WordPress, I couldn’t quite find the one that suited my needs.
See, I wanted something that displayed random posts. But, I also didn’t want the random posts to refresh every page load.
Now, why is that? Because I feel if a user is browsing my site, there might be two or even three interesting links in my random posts section. If a user clicks on any one of those links, the rest are lost.
With Static Random Posts, the random posts will remain the same for a set amount of time (on this blog, for 60 minutes).
Download Information
The plugin can be downloaded over at Static Random Posts Widget on WP Extend.
Installation
- Just unzip and upload the “static-random-posts” folder to your plugins directory
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Customize the global options (refresh rate, and categories) in the Settings panel.
- Go to Appearance->Widgets and drag the “Static Random Posts” widget into your widget enabled panels.
- Customize the widget title, and add a limit for how many posts to display.
- Repeat steps 4-5 for each additional widget added.
Installation Video
A video of the installation process as well as a description of the plugin is also available.
Click the image above to watch the video
Screenshot
Random Posts Screenshot
Features
The widget is really simple, but here are some cool features.
Dedicated Admin Panel for…
- Setting the refresh rate (minutes).
- Setting which categories to exclude.
Individual Widget Options
- Can assign a title for each widget.
- Can assign a post limit for each widget.
Admin Refresh Options on a Post
If you are logged is as admin and are viewing a post, you will see a “Refresh” button beneath where the random posts are displayed. You can click this “Refresh” button and automatically refresh your random posts.
If you use WP Super Cache, clicking “Refresh” also clears the cache so your users can see the new random posts immediately.
The “Refresh” feature is useful for those who have long refresh times, but want to tweak the output a bit.
Related posts:
Oct26
October 29, 2009 at 4:59 pm
I have been using the “Random Pages Widget” for quite sometime until I’ve found this plugin and implemented it on my blog. The best thing about this is the ability to exclude categories that the latter plugin doesn’t support. Way to go Ronald!
-Mathdelane, Software Critics
November 1, 2009 at 10:27 am
This looks like a great plugin. I’ve used WordPress plugins that put related posts, but those obviously accomplishes another purpose. Thanks for the helpful review.
November 2, 2009 at 8:27 pm
It would be nice if you could find some software that categorized all of your threads based upon a set of pre-defined attributes like the Music Genome Project does for music:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Genome_Project
Then you could deliver a list of “like interest” threads to your readers.
November 5, 2009 at 1:54 pm
I use other random posts plugin, but static random widget is more useful for me.
December 3, 2009 at 1:27 am
I AM working with wordpress and this seems
like a good idea. Thanks
December 26, 2009 at 11:27 am
Hi,
is it possible to add the random posts after the single post content?
and how to show the excerpt?
December 26, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Those are good feature requests. I don’t plan on messing with the plugin for the next few months due to other projects, but I will keep that in mind for future features.
December 31, 2009 at 11:00 am
nice plugin, thanks.
March 4, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Hi,
I would like to enable the refresh option for everyone. What should I do?
Thank you.
March 5, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Re-download the plugin at WP Extend: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/static-random-posts-widget/
Comment out lines 69 and 73 in the main plugin file.
That should do it.
April 2, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Hi,
the admin refresh button is on my version not working. 2.9.2
someting with ajax isnot working
wp-content/plugins/static-random-posts/php/ajax-processor.php
August 6, 2010 at 10:11 am
Same problem
php include error – not exist??:
wp-content/plugins/static-random-posts/php/ajax-processor.php
July 15, 2010 at 2:41 pm
I love the plug in, I’ve probably spent a few days looking for one that would allow me to set one featured post of the day… it has just been impossible until I found this one.. great stuff.. the only thing I wish I could get it to do is call the thumbnail image for the post.. Any chance of an update for that coming out? I’m trying to figure it out but no luck so far..
Thanks!