A home page that shows the three most recent posts tells a visitor the site is alive. A home page with no posts on it tells them nothing.
A recent posts listing is the Post Listing block with a small count and the default ordering, which is newest first.
Before You Start
- Edition: Free — works in Nexter Blocks (free) and with Nexter Blocks Pro.
- Block to enable: Post Listing, switched on under Nexter > Blocks in your WordPress dashboard.
Steps
- Add the Post Listing block where you want the recent posts.
- Set the number of posts to three or four.
- Leave the ordering on date, newest first, which is the default.
- Publish and check the real page.
How It Behaves
Newest first is already the default, so a recent posts listing is mostly about the count.
- The default ordering is by date, descending. Measured on an untouched listing, the newest post came first.
- Measured with the count set to three: exactly three posts rendered, with
display_post: 3in thedata-dypostattribute. - Ordering can be changed — measured, sorting by title ascending re-ordered the listing alphabetically.
- It updates itself. Publish a new post and it appears at the top with no edit to the page.
- Measured with Nexter Blocks Pro deactivated: the listing still renders its posts. The block itself is free.
Limitations
- Recent is not the same as best. A quiet month means your home page shows your weakest recent work.
- It does not know about quality or category unless you restrict the query yourself.
- Featuring the same post twice is easy if another block above also shows the newest — see hide recent blog posts.
- Very small counts age badly. Three posts on a home page looks thin if you publish rarely.
Troubleshooting
It is not showing my newest post
Check the ordering is still by date descending, and that the post is published rather than scheduled or draft.
The same post shows twice on my page
Two blocks are both showing the newest posts. Offset one of them — see hide recent blog posts.
It shows posts from a category I did not want
The listing is unrestricted by default. Limit it to the categories you want.
Nothing shows at all
There are no published posts matching the query. Check post status and any category restriction.
