Contextual Related Posts v3.3.0

I am pleased to report that the latest version of Contextual Related Posts is now available for download/upgrade. Contextual Related Posts v3.3.0 brings several new features and squashes a few bugs.

A better block

I’ve updated the Gutenberg block for two key changes. The block is now wrapped in Disabled tags which ensures you don’t click the links and navigate away from the Editor.

I’ve also added a feature for you to set a custom header for the block similar to how you can set a custom header for the widget. This has been built with a view that as WordPress heads towards full site editing, setting a custom header is particularly helpful.

Related by Meta

A much requested feature is to allow the use of meta keys to match related posts. You can now find a new option in the List Tuning tab called “Related Meta Key”. You can enter a comma-separated set of meta keys that will be used when looking up the related posts.

The plugin will check if the current post has the meta key(s) and then find other posts that match the value of these keys. The posts that are found are prioritised over those found via the related posts matching algorithm.

This should be particularly useful if you’re trying to find related posts from custom post types like those created by WooCommerce or Advanced Custom Fields.

You can also pass related_meta_keys as a parameter for the shortcode or under Other attributes in the block.

Complete changes in v3.3.0

Features:
- Related posts block allows you to set a custom header above the related posts. Leave blank to get the one from the main settings page.
- New option “Related Meta Keys” under the List Tuning tab. You can enter a comma-separted list of meta keys. Posts that match the same value of the meta key are displayed before the other related posts.
Enhancements/modifications:
- If the number of “Manual related posts” is greater than the number of related posts, then the database query is bypassed drastically improving perfomance
- Moved Related Posts Tools page under Tools menu
- Related Posts block is now wrapped in Disabled tags to prevent accidental clicking of links in the block editor
Bug fixes:
- Thumb width and height defaults to 150 in case the settings are missing
- Setting the style to be text_only didn’t enforce no thumbnail
Developer:
- New filters: crp_query_date_query, crp_query_meta_query, crp_query_meta_query_relation