Blog Designer – Post and Widget

76 Quality Score

Active Installs

17/30

With 5,000 active installs and a popularity score of 55, this is a mid-tier plugin rather than a mainstream one, which means a smaller pool of community feedback to draw from.

Update Freshness

23/25

A maintenance score of 100 combined with an update on February 19, 2026 shows the developer is actively shipping fixes and keeping pace with WordPress 6.9.4.

User Rating

14/15

A 94 out of 100 from 23 ratings is strong, though the small sample size means a few more votes could shift the picture noticeably.

Support Health

8/15

Support health sits at 50, driven by the single thread and a 0% resolution rate, which is a real concern given the limited available help.

WP Compatibility

15/15

The compatibility score of 100 reflects the recent test against WordPress 6.9.4 and the low minimum requirement of 4.0, making it usable on very old installations.

Scores higher than 51% of indexed plugins

About

Display Post on your website with 2 designs(Grid and Slider) with 1 widget. Also work with Gutenberg shortcode block.

Active Installs 5k+

Rating ★★★★½ 4.7/5

Last Updated 2026-02-19 6:07pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.0+

Tested Up To 6.9.4

Security History

3 known vulnerabilities, all patched

1 Critical 2 Medium

Most recent: April 9, 2026

View details ▸

What It Does

Blog Designer - Post and Widget renders your recent posts in either a grid layout or a slider, and it ships with one widget for sidebar placement. It also works inside the Gutenberg block editor via shortcode blocks, so you can drop post lists anywhere on a page. In short, it is a lightweight way to surface blog content beyond the default WordPress archive pages.

Who It's For

This plugin suits small to mid-sized blogs that want a quick grid or carousel of recent posts without committing to a heavier page builder like Elementor. Lifestyle, travel, food, and small business sites that primarily need a simple post showcase will get the most out of it. It also fits users who prefer working in Gutenberg and just want a shortcode-based drop-in solution.

Who Should Skip It

If you run a high-traffic news or magazine site, or you need advanced filtering, custom queries, or deep styling control, this plugin is too thin and you should look elsewhere. Developers and agencies building client sites with specific design requirements will also find the feature set limiting.

The Bottom Line

Blog Designer delivers exactly what it promises: a simple grid or slider for recent posts, with active maintenance and solid compatibility. The unresolved support thread and the 5,000-install ceiling are the main caveats, so buyers should feel comfortable troubleshooting on their own. For straightforward post showcases, it is a reasonable pick, but anyone needing depth or guaranteed support should consider the alternatives above.

Pick this alternative if carousel-style display is your primary need and you want a much larger install base of 20,000 for stronger community validation.

BlogLentor - Blog Designer Pack for Elementor 79/100

Choose BlogLentor if you already build with Elementor and need richer layout options, since it ties directly into Elementor widgets and templates.

Carousel, Recent Post Slider and Banner Slider 66/100

Go with Spice Post Slider if you also want banner sliders alongside post carousels and prefer a single plugin that handles multiple slider types.

Use Cases

lifestyle bloggers news and magazine websites digital marketing agencies small business websites portfolio and creative agency sites travel and food bloggers real estate agents online publishers corporate blog management