With MonsterInsights, we make it easy to add Popular Posts to your site, whether as Inline Popular Posts in your post content, or as a Popular Post Widget in a sidebar. If you’re using WooCommerce, we also have an option to show Popular Products.
Follow this guide to learn more about how to embed each type of popular post into your WordPress site.
Prerequisites:
Inline Popular Posts
Inline Popular Posts will be inserted within your blog posts. There are 2 different methods of embedding Popular Posts, Automatic and Manual.
Manual placement allows you to embed your Popular Posts using Gutenberg blocks or a shortcode.
If you prefer, you can just allow MonsterInsights to automatically insert your Popular Posts for you using the Automatic placement.
Automatic
With the Automatic placement option, you can set the following options:
- Insert After: Specify the number of words before the Popular Posts appear in your blog post
- Multiple Entries: If you have a long blog entry, you can insert Popular Posts multiple times. With this option enabled, you can set:
- Total Number Of Widgets To Show
- Minimum Distance Between Widgets
- Minimum Word Count To Display Multiple Widgets
- Include In Post Types: Specify if you want Popular Posts to also appear in the pages of any custom post types.
- Exclude From Specific Posts: Specify which posts should not have any Popular Posts.
Manual
Using the Manual placement option allows you to control exactly where you’d like your Popular Posts to appear through Gutenberg blocks or a shortcode.
If using Gutenberg blocks, you can seach for “Inline Popular Posts by MonsterInsights” and Style the widget using the Block Settings sidebar
If using a shortcode, simply use the following shortcode provided within the page: monsterinsights_popular_posts_inline
Popular Posts Widget
Easily insert Popular Posts into any Widget Area of your WordPress site. Simply drag and drop the widget item labelled as Popular Posts – MonsterInsights while at Appearance » Widgets.
You’ll also be able to go to Insights » Popular Posts » Popular Posts Widget to further customize the display with the following options:
- Display Title: Hide or show the title of the widget.
- Include In Post Types: Specify if you want the Popular Posts Widget to also appear in the pages of any custom post types.
- Exclude From Specific Posts: Specify which posts should not show the Popular Posts Widget.
- Only Show Posts From These Categories: By default, all categories will be rotated through the Popular Posts widget, but if you’d like to customize this, you can pick and choose which categories.
In addition to displaying your Popular Post Widget in a sidebar, you can also:
- Enable Automatic Placement: Your Popular Post Widget will appear at the end of any and all posts that match your Behavior settings.
- Display using Gutenberg Blocks: Use the Popular Posts block to insert your Popular Post Widget.
- Display using a Shortcode: Use monsterinsights_popular_posts_widget to insert the Popular Posts Widget.
Popular Products
If you are using WooCommerce, easily insert Popular Products into any Widget Area of your WordPress site. Simply drag and drop the widget item labelled as Popular Products – MonsterInsights while at Appearance » Widgets.
You’ll also be able to go to Insights » Popular Posts » Popular Products to further customize the display with the following options:
-
- Exclude These Product Categories: If certain categories shouldn’t appear as part of your Popular Products, then you can specify them here.
- Exclude These Products: If specific products shouldn’t appear in the Popular Products widget, then you can specify them here.
In addition to displaying your Popular Products in a sidebar, you can also:
- Enable Automatic Placement: Your Popular Products will appear at the end of Single Product pages.
- Display using Gutenberg Blocks: Use the Popular Products block to insert your Popular Products.
- Display using a Shortcode: Use monsterinsights_popular_posts_products to insert your Popular Products.
That’s it! You’ve learned how to embed your Popular Posts or Popular Products into your WordPress site.
What’s next? Now that you’ve added posts to your pages, configure your Popular Posts.