Add list of Related Entries to WordPress Posts

I have been investigating ways to increase the value of this website and to increase visitor pageviews. In particular, I wondered if there was a way to list ‘Additional Reading’ at the end of each post. The desire is to place before the reader other posts that are related to the one currently being read.

As I checked into how to place this list at the end of posts, I came across the Related Entries WordPress Plugin. There are four flavors of the plugin, I have implemented version 1.1. For an example of how this looks, view any single post on this site and look at the end of the post before the comments area.

This plugin performs a matching query against the WP database in order to determine a list of related posts. The plugin creates a new php function. This provides the user a large amount of flexibility by being able to place the function anywhere within the website whether it is right after a post or in a side bar.

There is an extra step involved in the setup of this plugin as opposed to most other plugins. A table needs to be altered in the WP database. The authors provide an automated script for accomplishing this. Follow the instructions in the readme file within the plugin zip file. If a problem is experienced leave a comment on the plugin site or leave one here and I will be happy to assist.

For my implementation I placed the following code right after my line of post details:


<div id="relatedposts">
<h4>Additional Related Reading:</h4>
<ul>
<?php related_posts(5, 0, '<li>', '</li>', '', '', false, false); ?>
</ul>
<hr />
</div>