Contents
A unique and impactful tool within WordPress plugins is the Contextual Related Posts (CRP) plugin. It brings a new level of interaction to your website by creating a list of related posts for your readers under each post. How does it achieve this? It intelligently analyzes the content of your website’s posts and identifies similar articles to suggest.
One of the outstanding features of the Contextual Related Posts plugin is its ability to generate related posts automatically. Rather than relying on manual tagging or categorizing, it utilizes advanced algorithms. These algorithms analyze the titles and content of your posts, identifying connections and similarities to generate a bespoke list of related posts.
Customizing the Output for Your Website
The Contextual Related Posts plugin is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It offers customization features to tailor the appearance of the related posts list to fit seamlessly with your site’s design. The possibilities are endless, from customizing the post header to including post thumbnails and excerpts.
The Flexibility of Shortcodes
With the Contextual Related Posts plugin, you’re not confined to automatic placement. You can manually add the related posts list to specific locations in your posts using shortcodes. This gives you the flexibility to decide where and when the list appears, ideal for those posts where you want to provide additional related content. We’ll discuss how to use shortcodes in section 6 of our Complete SEO Guide Box.
Utilizing the Widget Feature
Another way to optimize the Contextual Related Posts plugin is through its widget feature. This allows you to position the related posts list in any widget area on your website, such as a sidebar or footer. It’s a great way to engage your readers as they navigate your site continually.
Efficiency and Performance
Despite its advanced features, the Contextual Related Posts plugin does not compromise performance. It uses a caching mechanism to swiftly deliver the related posts list, ensuring it doesn’t slow down your website’s loading times. This balance between functionality and performance makes it an excellent choice for any website.
Supporting Custom Post Types
The versatility of the Contextual Related Posts plugin is evident in its support for custom post types. Not limited to standard blog posts, it can display related content from a wide range of sources. Whether you’re showcasing products, portfolio pieces, or testimonials, the plugin can find and display related items, enhancing your site’s depth and user experience.
You can install the plugin using our WordPress Plugin Installation Guide article of our Complete SEO Guide Box.
Search for: Contextual Related Posts By WebberZone.
Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
On the left side menu bar, hover with your mouse cursor over [Settings], then in the pop-up menu, click on [Related Posts].
[General] tab
“Cache posts only” and “Cache HTML output” should not be selected since we will use much more advanced caching solutions like “Clearfy Chache,” “Redis Object Cache,” and “CloudFlare CDN.”
Automatically add related posts to: [V] Posts
You should select only “Posts” and not “Pages” or anything else. We will use Pages for static content like “Privacy Policy” and other official content. Hence, Related Posts aren’t in context there.
Display location priority: 999
Each post has several elements to show on the page. This is something related to how WordPress internals work. The number 999 means that Context Related Posts will have a place at the end of the post after all the other elements, which is what you want. You want the Relate Posts to be at the end of your post.
Insert after paragraph number: -1
The parameter is related to the paragraph placement of the “Related Posts.” The number “-1” means it will appear on your post after the last paragraph.
You can leave the rest of the settings under this tab as default.
Click [Save Changes].
[List tuning] tab
Number of posts to display: 6
The plugin will show links to this number of posts under each post. The number six is about right, but you can change it if you want more or less.
Related posts should be newer than: 0
This is the minimum number of days after which the new post will be added to the Related Posts list. The number of “0” is optimal since each new post will enter the Related Posts list immediately.
Order posts: (*) By Relevance
Of course, you want to show the Related Posts by relevance to the current post.
Randomize posts: [ ]
You don’t need to enable this feature since you want as slight randomization as possible on the Related Posts list.
Related posts based on title and content: [V]
You want the Related Posts suggestion to be as closest to the content as possible. Using only post titles for analysis is not enough.
Limit content to be compared: 0
The number to limit the word count to analyze each post. The number of “0” will not limit the word count, and the plugin will use the whole article to analyze for the best fit of the Related Posts list.
Post types to include: [V] post
You should select only the “post” type. Posts are the only content we will add to the site. Pages will be used for official content like “Privacy Policy.” You don’t want it to be on the Related Posts list.
The rest of the settings should be default, but you may check them and read their descriptions if you want to edit anything else.
Click [Save Changes].
Note: If you want, select the “Only from same” option to show related posts only from the same category as the current post or the same tags used. However, you may not always remember to set the appropriate tags. Also, posts from different categories may have content-related similarities, which will not be added to the list if the option is enabled. So, we don’t use this option.
All the features here are self-explanatory and individual to your styling. So, check all the options and change them accordingly if needed.
The most important feature is “Show when no posts are found,” which should be set to (*) Blank output. This is the default setting, but it is essential to leave it blank since you don’t want to add useless content if the plugin doesn’t find any related posts.
If you changed anything, click [Save Changes].
[Styles] tab
Related Posts style: (*) Text only: Disable thumbnails and no longer include the default style sheet
Selecting this feature is essential. You aim to ensure related posts function smoothly while consuming minimal resources. If you opt for links with a Thumbnail option, the plugin will store the information related to them (like full URL) in the database. By selecting the “text only” option, the plugin will store less data in the database, reducing the amount of data processed and stored. In addition, the thumbnail of each post will need to be loaded by the user’s browser. You are making the site load slower, which can impact SEO. However, if you display thumbnails, review the [Thumbnails] tab.
Click [Save Changes].
[Feed] tab
Since we prefer not to use this option, you should check if you need to change anything here.
There are two ways of accessing the Contextual Related Posts plugin tools page.
One method is clicking the [Visit the Tools page] button at the top of the plugin settings page.
The second method is hovering with the mouse cursor over [Tools] on the left side menu bar, then clicking on [Related Posts Tools].
Here, you can [Clear cache] if you use it. We didn’t enable it in the settings above, so you don’t need it or [Recreate Indices]. Novice users don’t need this option, so if you want to know more about it, refer to the plugin’s manual.
If you find any mistakes or have ideas for improvement, please follow the email on the Contact page.