AI Featured image vs Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails

AI Featured Image Generator creates AI-powered featured images right from the WordPress editor. Click “Generate Featured Image” on any post and the plugin builds a unique image from your post title, chosen style, and optional custom prompt, using OpenAI, Stability AI, or Grok/xAI on the free plan, or Google Gemini on Pro. Every image gets alt text automatically and an SEO-friendly filename based on your post title. Generate one at a time in the editor, in bulk, straight from the Posts list, or inline in your content with the AI Image Generator block. Everything is managed from one settings hub. Video Walkthrough Free Features 3 free AI providers: OpenAI, Stability AI, and Grok/xAI (Google Gemini available on Pro) OpenAI models: GPT Image 2 (newest, default): excels at text rendering in multiple languages, visual reasoning, multi-object scenes, transparent backgrounds, mask-based editing, and up to 4K output. Also GPT Image 1.5, GPT Image 1, and GPT Image 1 Mini (budget-friendly) Stability AI: Stable Image Core with 16 native style presets (Photographic, Cinematic, Anime, Digital Art, Comic Book, Fantasy Art, and more) Grok/xAI: Grok Imagine Image: fast and affordable at $0.02 per image 13 style presets: Common (None, Realistic, Artistic, Cartoon, Minimalist) and Creative (Sketch, Watercolor, 3D Render, Pixel Art, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Anime, Technicolor) Custom prompts: plus one-click Generate Prompt from Content, which crafts an AI-optimized prompt from your post title and body (OpenAI and Grok free; Gemini on Pro) 7 image sizes with GPT Image 2: square, portrait, landscape, widescreen 16:9, vertical 9:16, ultra-wide 3:1, and tall banner 1:3 (older OpenAI models support the first three) 3 aspect ratios for Stability AI and Grok: 1:1, 16:9, and 9:16 Output control (OpenAI): WebP/PNG/JPEG format, compression slider (1–100), and Low/Medium/High generation quality Text control: allow or block text, captions, and words in generated images Auto alt text: from the post title, the prompt, or a custom template with {title}, {prompt}, {style}, and {site_name} placeholders. with an option to preserve manual edits on regeneration Bulk Generate: up to 5 posts per batch, 50 images lifetime on the free plan Generate from Post List: an “AI Featured Image” column on the Posts/Pages list with a one-click Generate/Regenerate link, so there is no need to open the editor, and it doesn’t count against the free bulk limit Inline images: the AI Image Generator block adds AI images anywhere in your Gutenberg content, with its own settings tab Multisite compatible Pro Features 🚀 Google Gemini: Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash), Nano Banana 2 Preview (Gemini 3.1 Flash), and Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro): up to 4K resolution and 10 aspect ratios Image upscaling (Stability AI): Conservative (faithful 4x), Creative (AI-enhanced 4K), or Fast (quick 4x), right from the post editor Background removal (Stability AI): one click isolates the subject and saves a transparent PNG as your featured image Advanced Stability AI models: Stable Image Ultra, SD 3.5 Large / Large Turbo / Medium / Flash, SD 3 Large / Large Turbo / Medium, and SDXL 1.0 Negative prompts (Stability AI): exclude unwanted elements, e.g. “blurry, watermark, text, low quality” Grok Imagine Image Pro: higher quality at $0.07 per image, plus 2K resolution More aspect ratios: 9 for Stability AI, 9 for Grok, 10 for Gemini More output formats: PNG/JPEG/WebP for Stability AI, and automatic WebP conversion for Gemini and Grok images Unlimited Bulk Generate: hundreds of posts at once with filters for post type, status, date range, and thumbnail status, plus real-time progress Custom post types: enable generation for any public post type Custom styles: create named styles with your own prompt descriptions, available in every style dropdown Brand Kit: save your brand colors, a style description, tone, and avoid-rules, plus an optional reference image (used by Google Gemini) and a logo watermark, applied automatically to every image you generate, with a per-image “Use Brand Kit” toggle to skip it Want to unlock Google Gemini AI, image upscaling, background removal, unlimited bulk generation and more? Upgrade to Pro here. Requirements WordPress 5.8 or higher PHP 7.4 or higher An API key for at least one provider: OpenAI (free plan) Stability AI (free plan) Grok/xAI (free plan) Google Gemini (Pro only) External Services This plugin connects to your chosen AI provider’s API to generate images. For every provider: Your post title and content (or your custom prompt, and for Stability AI any negative prompt) are sent to the provider’s API when you generate an image Your API key for that provider authenticates each request Requests are only sent when you trigger generation: from the post editor, the Posts list, Bulk Generate, or the AI Image Generator block “Generate Prompt from Content” sends your post title and body to the provider’s text API: gpt-4o-mini (OpenAI), grok-3-mini (Grok), or Gemini 2.5 Flash (Gemini, Pro) OpenAI (Free & Pro): image generation and prompt generation. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | API Documentation Stability AI (Free & Pro): image generation; for Pro users, upscaling and background removal also send your existing featured image file to Stability AI for processing. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | API Documentation Grok / xAI (Free & Pro): image generation and prompt generation. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | API Documentation Google Gemini (Pro only): image generation and prompt generation. Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | API Documentation Data usage: generated images are stored in your WordPress media library. No personal data is stored by the providers beyond what’s necessary for API processing. You are responsible for ensuring your content complies with the selected provider’s usage policies.

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 Options you can set Title of the widget Number of listed posts Open post links in new windows Different options for post order and sorting Hide the current post in list Show only sticky posts Hide sticky posts Keep sticky posts on top of the list if not hidden Hide post title Maximum length of post title Show post author name Label for the author names Show post categories Show post category names as links to their archives Label for categories Show post date Show post excerpt Show number of comments Excerpt length Signs after excerpt Ignore post excerpt field as excerpt source (builds excerpts only from the post content) Ignore post content as excerpt source (builds excerpts only from the excerpt fields) Show posts of selected categories (or of all categories) Show post thumbnail (featured image) Registered thumbnail dimensions Thumbnail width in px Thumbnail height in px Keep the aspect ratio of thumbnails Try to take the first post image as thumbnail Only use the first post image as thumbnail Use default thumbnail if no thumbnail is available Always use default thumbnail Default thumbnail URL Alternative text of the default thumbnail Omit all alternative texts of the thumbnails for a better accessibility Print slugs of post categories in class attribute of LI elements Print inline CSS instead of creating a CSS file No CSS generation at all Useful hints for developers: Supported Hooks The plugin considers the output of actions hooked on: rpwwt_widget_posts_args passed argument: the query arguments as an array expected return value: an array of query arguments widget_title passed arguments: the widget title as a string the widget settings as an array the widget base ID as a string expected return value: a string rpwwt_excerpt_length passed argument: the maximum number of characters for the post excerpt as an integer expected return value: an integer rpwwt_excerpt_more passed argument: the string to append after the post excerpt expected return value: a string rpwwt_the_excerpt passed arguments: the content of the post excerpt field as a string the post object expected return value: a string the_excerpt passed argument: the post excerpt as a string expected return value: a string rpwwt_categories passed argument: the category list of each post as a string expected return value: a string rpwwt_list_cats passed arguments: the category name as a string the category as an array expected return value: a string Useful hints for developers: Available CSS Selectors To design the list and its items, you can use these CSS selectors: .rpwwt-widget: the element which contains the post list .rpwwt-widget ul: the list which contains the list items .rpwwt-widget ul li: the list item in the list .rpwwt-widget ul li.rpwwt-sticky: the list item of a sticky post .rpwwt-widget ul li a: link in the list .rpwwt-widget ul li a img: linked image .rpwwt-widget ul li a span.rpwwt-post-title: the post title .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-author: the post author .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-categories: the post category list .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-date: the post date .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-excerpt: the post excerpt .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-excerpt .rpwwt-post-excerpt-more: the "more" text following the excerpt. .rpwwt-widget ul li div.rpwwt-post-comments-number: the number of comments Languages The user interface is available in several languages. Starting from version 7.1.0 the handling for translations are moved to translate.wordpress.org. Please help to translate into more languages, or you can re-work on the current translations if you think it’s needed. If you have done your translation, please leave a comment in the plugin’s support forum. I’ll take care of the review and approval.