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3. FAQ
First thing is to read all the online documentation available (Installation, Usage, Wiki, and of course this section) as they should address most of the questions you might have about this plugin.
If you're still having problems with Recently, please try disabling all other plugins and then reenable them one at a time to check if any of them is causing a conflict. If that's not the case, try switching to a different theme for a moment and see the problem still persists.
Checking the Support Forum is also a good idea as chances are that someone else has already posted something about it.
Remember: read first. It'll save you (and me) time.
Yes, generally speaking the plugin should work with most (if not all) caching plugins/systems out there. However, note that:
- When you first install the plugin and after every plugin update, flushing your caching plugin's cache is highly recommended to make sure that Recently can insert its JavaScript code into your posts and pages correctly.
- Your caching plugin must regenerate/purge its cache at least once per day so Recently can work. The reason for this is that Recently uses a security token (or nonces as the WordPress team calls them) to prevent the misuse of the plugin by external actors. Said token expires roughly every 24 hours so in order for Recently to be able to do its job your site's cache should also be recreated every 24 hours (or less) so Recently can obtain a new security token. Alternatively, although not really recommended for security reasons, you could also have WordPress Nonces last as long as your site's cache lifetime. That way it won't be necessary to have your caching plugin regenerate its cache every day.
- Some caching plugins include a JS minification/bundling feature. In some cases this (the minification/bundling thing) isn't handled properly, breaking Recently's ability to loads its widget via AJAX. See here for more details: Is Recently compatible with plugins that minify / bundle JavaScript code?
- You'll want to make sure to enable the Ajaxify widget feature to keep your caching plugin from caching your recent posts widget (Settings > Recently > Tools, Under Data set Ajaxify widget to Enabled, click on the Apply button below to save changes, then clear your caching plugin's cache for changes to take effect.)
Some of the plugins that minify / bundle JavaScript code don't handle Recently's inline application/json script properly, breaking Recently's ability to display its recent posts widgets.
If this is your case please try clearing said plugin's JavaScript cache and check again. If Recently still doesn't work after that then make sure to exclude Recently's JavaScript files from the JS minification / bundling process.
For example:
- If you're using the WP Optimize plugin, go to its Minify page then click on the JavaScript tab. Under Exclude JavaScript from processing add
/recently/assets/js/and save changes. Additionally, you may also need to disable the Process HTML option under the Minify Status tab as well (excluding Recently's JS as mentioned earlier should be enough though.) Finally, if you're using WP Optimize's Page Caching feature please go to its Cache page and click on Purge Cache for changes to take effect. - If you're using the Fast Velocity Minify plugin, go to its settings page and click on the Pro tab, then under Ignore List add
/recently/assets/js/. When you're done, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Save Changes. Next, click on the Status tab and click on the Delete button under Purge the cache files so these changes are applied right away. - If you're using the Merge + Minify + Refresh plugin, add this line to the box under Ignore these files (one per line):
https://www.my-domain.com/wp-content/plugins/recently/assets/js/recently.min.js(replacewww.my-domain.comwith your actual domain name) and save changes. Remember to click on Purge All afterwards for changes to take effect. - If you're using the Hummingbird plugin by WPMU DEV head to Hummingbird > Asset Optimization, then under Configuration > Exclusions click on File exclusions, select the recently-js option and click on Publish Changes. When you're done, go to Hummingbird > Caching > Page Caching and click on the Clear Cache button so these changes are applied to your website right away.
Other plugins provide a similar functionality to exclude specific JS files from its JS minification/bundling process. Make sure to check their documentation (or get in touch with its developers) for more details.
Unfortunately the answer is no. But that might change in the future.
Please check that either the ImageMagick or GD extension is installed and enabled by your hosting.
You can tell Recently to pick the thumbnail from either of the following options (available at wp-admin > Settings > Recently > Tools):
- Featured Image (default).
- First image on post.
- First attachment.
- Custom field.
If no images are found, the default thumbnail will be displayed instead.
Make sure you have assigned one to your posts (see previous question).
Fortunately, yes. Go to wp-admin > Settings > Recently > Tools and check under Thumbnail source. Alternatively, you can also just replace the image sitting on wp-content/plugins/recently/.
Ideally, the thumbnail you're going to use should be set already with your desired width and height - however, the uploader will give you other size options as configured by your current theme.
Simply add your custom post type to the Types field in the widget.
Activate the Use custom HTML markup option from the widget and set your desired HTML tags in conjunction with Recently's built-in Content Tags (see wp-admin > Settings > Recently > Parameters) to customize the look & feel of the recent posts listing.
A more advanced way to customize the HTML markup is via WordPress filters by hooking into recently_custom_html. For more details please check the Filter Hooks page.
While I have not fully tested it, Recently should work just fine (and if it doesn't, please let me know).
Yes, Recently includes a stylesheet called recently.css located at wp-content/plugins/recently/style. However, it doesn't include any predefined styles (well, almost).
Each time Recently is updated the recently.css stylesheet gets reset and I lose all changes I made to it. How can I keep my custom CSS?
Copying your modified recently.css file into your theme's folder will prevent future plugin updates from overwriting it with the default recently.css file.
If none of the bundled designs fit your needs (see Themes), it's up to you to style your recent posts list as you like (see How can I use my own HTML markup with Recently? and Styling the Recent Posts List.)
If you're not familiar with HTML/CSS -or if don't feel like styling the list yourself- you should consider hiring someone to help you out (I'm also available for freelance work in case you're wondering.)
You can disable the stylesheet via wp-admin > Settings > Recently > Tools.
It allows you to show a heading for your recent posts listing. If left empty, no heading will be displayed at all.
This filter allows you to decide which post types to show on the listing. By default, it will retrieve only posts and pages (which should be fine for most cases).
This allows you to filter posts by a given taxonomy. You could for example have Recently list all recent posts that belong to category Development; or filter out those posts with a given tag.
To use it, simply add the ID(s) of the term(s) ID (eg. the category ID). A negative sign in front of the ID (eg. -25) will exclude posts that are associated to it from the listing. You can specify more than one ID with a comma separated list (eg. 24,3,-25 <- this would return the most recent posts from categories 24 & 3 but exclude those that belong to category 25).
You can use a plugin like Reveal IDs to see the IDs of your categories, tags, etc. in the Categories / Tags / etc. screens of your WordPress dashboard.
Similarly to the Taxonomy filter, this one lets you filter posts by author ID. You can specify more than one ID with a comma separated list (but unlike the Taxonomy filter, you can't exclude author with a minus sign... yet).
You can use a plugin like Reveal IDs to see the IDs of your users in the Users Screen of your dashboard.
If checked, Recently will show how your readers are rating your recent posts. This feature requires having WP-PostRatings plugin installed and enabled on your blog for it to work.
If checked, you will be able to customize the HTML markup of your recent posts listing. For example, you can decide whether to wrap your posts in an unordered list, an ordered list, a div, etc. If you know HTML/CSS, this is for you!
Yes, check the Other Notes section at wordpress.org for more information.
I want to translate your plugin into my language / help you update a translation. What do I need to do?
First thing you need to do is get a gettext editor like Poedit to translate all texts into your language. You'll find several .PO files bundled with the plugin under the lang folder. Check this handy guide for more details.
If you're interested in sharing your translation with others (or just helped update an existing translation), please let me know (a pull request is welcome, too).
Also, to prevent plugin upgrades from overwriting your translation files place them in /wp-content/languages/plugins/.
If it fits the nature of my plugin and it sounds like something others would like to have, there's a pretty good chance that I will implement it (and if you can provide some sample code with useful comments, much better).
If the theme/plugin you're talking about is a free one that can be downloaded from somewhere, sure, I can try and take a look into it. Premium themes/plugins are out of discussion though, unless you're willing to grant me access to your site (or get me a copy of this theme/plugin) so I can check it out.
Updates will come depending on my work projects and the amount of time I have on my hands (I'm a full-time web developer). Quick releases will happen only when/if critical bugs are spotted.
The Support Forum is usually the best way to get in touch with me since I'm checking it constantly.