This is a little different than archived posts. A plugin in this category will give you the ability to work with all the posts from a certain short time range. It is nice when a visitor has seen something recently and come back for another look, but it is not that nice when they have trouble finding what they came back to see. Using the right plugin to deal with recent posts set aside the best of your recent work in a way that simply using the archives cannot do. You want to showcase the recent stuff and then lead them down into the past work. Also, for those that check your blog out from time to time, it makes it easier for them to find the newer work without dealing with things that they have already gone through.
1. Special Recent Posts
The previous plugin is a simple way to provide some text linking to past posts. This is a step up. It can make thumbnails for the recent posts and it has a look that is altogether special, as the name suggests. Even though there is additional functionality in the plugin, there is still a very simple interface. Make sure that the plugin will work well with your theme before you go crazy and then start having fun. The plugin makes a highly responsive layout that you will have to see in action to fully get the feeling. You will love this plugin.
2. Recent Posts Widgets
This plugin is simply fun. It creates a widget that shows your recent posts as a series of thumbnails. There are many options and all of them are a lot of fun. You can use this as a “header” with a little bit of work and showcase the best of the best posts across the top of the home page. Many people create a specific page in WordPress, put the widget on that page with some formatting and use it as a “front page”. That is something that immediately removes that WordPress look and sets your blog apart from others.
3. Recent Posts
This is a very simple plugin that we have used for years. The developer seems to have forgotten the plugin, but it still works well. It simply creates a shortcode that you can use to display recent posts. There is a little play in the formatting of the shortcode and that will give many people what they need to keep their site well organized and to give people access to not just the content they came for, but also content that you have added within a given period of time. This is the simplest plugin that we use.