Which Related Post Plugin Is Best?

May 28th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

Filed Under: Blogging • Everton

Tags: comments, plugins, related posts, Wordpress

One of the best ways you can increase the number of pages viewed per user on your blog is to add a Related Posts plugin.  The logic behind adding a Related Post plugin, is that if a reader makes it all the way to the end of a particular post, then it’s likely that they will want to read more posts on the same topic.

A year ago it was hard to find a good WordPress related posts plugin and I frequently had to email the one I used to readers as it wasn’t available for download anymore.  However, with the introduction of tags into the core WordPress build, it seems almost like a new Related Posts plugin is released every week.  These Related Posts plugins tend to work by displaying posts with similar tags, and I really think this is a really bad idea.

Why?  Well, for one they only match the tags that have been manually added to posts.  Even if you dilligently tag all your posts, you are not going to be able to add sufficient tags to aid the matching process without effectively writing your whole post again within the tags.  By all means add tags to your posts, but not to generate Related Posts.

This is why I use the Yet Another Related Posts plugin. Despite the name, this plugin is definitely not yet another plugin.  Not only does it search the fulltext of posts to look for related posts, but it also allows you to set a threshold limit for relevance.  If only two posts are found that exceed the threshold then only these two are shown, rather than displaying 5 posts where the other 3 have absolutely nothing in common with the post topic.

More: Yet Another Related Posts plugin

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About the Author

Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 9 Responses So Far. »

1. #1
   

   Comment by Mark at MeAndMyDrum.com on 28 May 2008:

   Okay, maybe it’s me, but this thing is a bear to get to it to work right. Letting display automatically on one blog, didn’t show anything (even tried tinkering with the configurations). And on another blog of mine, it should related posts just beneath the article, but I didn’t like the layout (exceeded the left margin).

   So I toyed with the manual approach. Never got a related post to show up. I’ll still work with it some more; maybe something will click.

   Read Mark at MeAndMyDrum.com’s latest blog post….How To Win The Secret Classroom DVD Box Set>>>
2. #2
   

   Comment by Zath on 28 May 2008:

   This is the same related posts plugin that I’m currently using and it’s the best that I’ve found, for the exact reason that Everton has mentioned in his post - it looks at the full text of the post rather than just uses tags - if you’re going to do that you may as well have people click on the tags to find related content themselves!

   Read Zath’s latest blog post….Play.com 5% Discount Voucher Code>>>
3. #3
   

   Comment by abhishek on 29 May 2008:

   Thnx everton for this find was looking for a related plugin have been using quite a lot of plugin but this one seems the best will surely add it today to my blog

   Read abhishek’s latest blog post….Survive DIGG effect with smart hosting and optimization>>>
4. #4
   

   Comment by Gaj on 29 May 2008:

   I just went through the nightmare of trying to look one recently and chose this.
   I’m awful at tagging so this plug-in would be much better for me - thanks for that.

   Read Gaj’s latest blog post….Secret Windows XP Easter Egg - ASCII Star Wars>>>
5. #5
   

   Comment by Forest Parks on 30 May 2008:

   Cheers,

   I installed this on one blog now and it’s working like a treat. I was looking for one for ages and they all wanted me to amend my database!!!

   Read Forest Parks’s latest blog post….Free Ticket Exchange - Review>>>
6. #6
   

   Comment by Zath on 30 May 2008:

   Forest - another reason why I liked this plugin so much - anything that wants to tinker with your database I try to avoid.

   Read Zath’s latest blog post….Gamerbase - First Class Gaming>>>
7. #7
   

   Comment by gaj on 31 May 2008:

   I did try this plug-in and had errors installing to the DB to I have deactivated and reverted back to the old one. Shame  it didn’t work as it would have been ideal for me. Maybe its cos I am using windows hosting.

   Read gaj’s latest blog post….The Pre-Paid Credit Crunch: Mobile Phone Sales Down>>>
8. #8
   

   Comment by Protoscopic on 3 September 2008:

   Setup was a bit rough, but after I got it working I was pleased with the results.  All in all I’d recommend it.

   Read Protoscopic’s latest blog post….My Romance With Drupal>>>
9. #9
   

   Comment by hiendgadget on 25 September 2008:

   I have used it too

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