Title: Contextual Related Posts
Author: Ajay
Published: January 21, 2009
Last modified: October 2, 2026
---
Search plugins
# Contextual Related Posts
By [Ajay](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajay/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/contextual-related-posts.4.5.0.zip)
[Live Preview](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/?preview=1)
* [Details](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/#description)
* [Reviews](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/#installation)
* [Development](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/)
## Description
[Contextual Related Posts](https://wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/)
is a powerful WordPress plugin that displays fast, intelligent related posts to
keep users on your site longer. Improve SEO, increase pageviews, and lower bounce
rates — no setup needed.
### Key features
* **Activate and Forget**: Activate the plugin. Contextual Related Posts automatically
displays related posts on your site and in your feed after the content. There
is no need to edit any template files.
* **Custom Control with Manual Install**: Want placement control? You have multiple
options available:
- **Gutenberg / Block Editor support**: You can easily add a “Related Posts [
CRP]” block to any post or page with its options and settings.
- **Widgets**: Add related posts to any widgetized theme area, such as the sidebar
or footer. You can configure the widget options to suit your needs.
- **Shortcode**: Use `[crp]` to display the related posts anywhere within the
post content.
* **REST API**: Fetch related posts for any post ID using `contextual-related-posts/
v1/posts//`. You can also use query parameters to filter or sort the results.
* **The algorithm**: Find related posts based on the current post’s title and/or
content. You can also find posts by tags, categories and selected custom fields.
* **Caching**: Related posts output is automatically cached as visitors browse
through your site, reducing the load on your server and improving performance.
**[View Demo](https://demo.webberzone.com)**
Contextual Related Posts uses an intelligent algorithm that analyzes your post’s
title and/or content to find the most related ones. This way, you can show your
visitors more awesome content and keep them on your site longer.
With Contextual Related Posts, you can quickly boost your site’s traffic, reduce
bounce rates, and refresh old entries. It’s fast, flexible, and easy to use. Try
it today and see the difference for yourself!
Additional features include:
* **Exclusions**: Exclude posts from specific categories or tags from being displayed
in the related posts list.
* **Custom post types**: The related posts list supports posts, pages, attachments,
or any other custom post type on your site.
* **Thumbnail support**: Display thumbnails or not!
* **Styles**: The output of the related posts list is wrapped in CSS classes that
allow you to style it easily using custom CSS code.
* **Customizable output**: Display post excerpts in the related posts list. Customize
the HTML tags and attributes used to display the output.
* **Extendable code**: Many filters and actions allow developers to easily add
features, modify outputs, or integrate with other plugins.
### MySQL FULLTEXT indices
On activation, the plugin creates three MySQL FULLTEXT indices (or indexes), which
are leveraged to find the related posts. [Learn more about how the algorithm works](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-algorithm/).
If you’re running a multisite installation, an index is created for each blog upon
activation. These indices occupy space in your MySQL database but are essential
for running the plugin.
Two options on the settings page allow you to remove these indices when deactivating
or deleting the plugin. The latter is true by default.
### 💼 Features Exclusive to CRP Pro
[CRP Pro](https://webberzone.com/plugins/contextual-related-posts/pro/) supercharges
your related posts with advanced customization, better performance, and powerful
content strategy tools.
#### 🚀 Performance Enhancements
* [Efficient Content Storage and Indexing](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/efficient-content-storage-and-indexing/):
Speed up your site with optimized custom tables and efficient database indices
for lightning-fast queries.
* [Cache Setting](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/caching-in-contextual-related-posts/):
Fine-tune your performance with configurable cache times from 1 hour to 1 year.
* [Server Load Threshold](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/server-load-threshold-setting-in-contextual-related-posts-pro/):
Prevent CRP from running queries when the database is under heavy load.
* [Bot Protection](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-bot-protection/):
Skip CRP processing for known bots and crawlers using an extensible signature
list, saving server resources.
* **Lazy Loading**: Load related posts via JavaScript only when they are about
to enter the viewport, speeding up the initial page load. Works across the content,
shortcode, widget and block display methods and plays well with page caching
plugins.
#### 🎯 Smarter Content Matching
* [Advanced Algorithm](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-algorithm/):
Control exactly how relevant content is found by adjusting weights for title,
content, and excerpt.
* [Taxonomy Weight System](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-algorithm/#weighting-categories-tags-and-taxonomies):
Refine your matches with precise taxonomy weighting for perfect content relationships.
* **Keyword Override for Blocks**: Set a word or phrase on the Related Posts block
or the CRP Query Loop block to find related posts using that keyword instead
of the current post’s title and content.
#### 🧩 Page Builder Integrations (experimental)
These integrations are new in 4.4.0 and marked experimental while they get real-
world use. They are safe to use on a live site, but if one of them misbehaves in
your setup, please [report it on Github](https://github.com/WebberZone/contextual-related-posts/issues).
* **WPBakery Page Builder**: A native “Related Posts (CRP)” element under its own“
WebberZone” tab in the Add Element panel, covering the same options as the `[
crp]` shortcode plus custom CSS class/CSS — works in both Classic Mode and the
Frontend Editor.
* **Elementor**: A native “Related Posts (CRP)” widget under its own “WebberZone”
category, editable live from the widget panel and preview.
* **Bricks Builder**: A native “Related Posts (CRP)” element under its own “WebberZone”
category, covering the same options as the `[crp]` shortcode with live dynamic
data support.
#### 🛒 WooCommerce Integration
* **Related Products for WooCommerce**: Seamlessly integrate with WooCommerce to
show related products.
* **Product Matching & Filtering**: Index SKUs and attributes, filter by stock
status, and use category-based recommendations with native WooCommerce styling.
* **Display Customization**: Toggle prices, ratings, and choose to replace or complement
WooCommerce’s related products.
* **Cart Related Products**: Nudge customers toward free shipping by showing contextually
related products priced within the gap between the cart total and the free shipping
threshold. Uses CRP relevance matching anchored to the most expensive cart item,
with a configurable price band, product count, heading, and cart page hook position.
[📖 WooCommerce Related Products Documentation](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/woocommerce-related-products/)
### WP-CLI Support
Contextual Related Posts Pro includes comprehensive WP-CLI commands for advanced
management and automation. Perfect for developers, agencies, and site administrators
who need powerful command-line tools.
**Key WP-CLI Features:**
* **Database Management**: Migrate post meta, check index status, and manage database
operations
* **Cache Control**: Clear, warm, enable/disable cache with multisite support
* **Custom Table Operations**: Sync content and manage FULLTEXT indexes for optimal
performance
* **Content Processing**: Reprocess posts and manage related content in bulk
* **Multisite Ready**: All commands support `--network` flag for multisite installations
[📖 Complete CLI Documentation](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-wp-cli/)
#### 🎨 Advanced Design & Display Options
* [Block Editor Integration](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-blocks/):
Create beautiful layouts with the Query Loop Block and ready-to-use block patterns
including Grid, Image with Title, and more.
* [Extra Shortcode Parameters](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-shortcode/):
Unlock additional customization options for complete control over your related
posts display.
#### 📊 Analytics & Content Strategy Tools
* [Tracking Parameters](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/tracking-parameters/):
Measure content performance with automatic UTM tracking for all related post
clicks.
* [Cornerstone Posts](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/cornerstone-posts-in-contextual-related-posts/):
Guide visitors to your most important content by featuring key articles in your
related posts lists.
* [Additional Metabox Settings](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-metabox/):
Control related content at the individual post level for perfect content relationships.
### GDPR
Contextual Related Posts doesn’t collect personal data or send information to external
services — making it GDPR-friendly by default.
⚠️ You’re responsible for ensuring your site’s overall GDPR compliance.
### Donations
Love Contextual Related Posts? Help keep it alive!
You can [donate](https://wzn.io/donate-crp) or upgrade to [CRP Pro](https://webberzone.com/plugins/contextual-related-posts/pro/)—
both help support development and support.
### Contribute
Contextual Related Posts is also available on [Github](https://github.com/WebberZone/contextual-related-posts).
So, if you’ve got some cool feature you’d like to implement into the plugin or a
bug you’ve been able to fix, consider forking the project and sending me a pull
request.
Bug reports are [welcomed on Github](https://github.com/WebberZone/contextual-related-posts/issues).
Please note Github is _not_ a support forum, and issues that aren’t suitably qualified
as bugs will be closed.
### Multilingual sites
Contextual Related Posts works with WPML, Polylang and TranslatePress, and no configuration
is needed for any of them.
On WPML and Polylang, where each language has its own posts, the related posts list
is mapped to the equivalent post in the language being viewed. On TranslatePress,
which translates one set of posts on the fly, related posts pick up the visitor’s
language along with the rest of the page — including when they are served through
the REST API or loaded lazily, which TranslatePress cannot reach on its own.
Cached related posts are stored per language, so visitors are never served another
language’s titles or links.
### Translations
Contextual Related Posts is available for [translation directly on WordPress.org](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/contextual-related-posts).
Check out the official [Translator Handbook](https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/rosetta/theme-plugin-directories/)
to contribute.
### Other Plugins by WebberZone
Contextual Related Posts is one of the many plugins developed by WebberZone. Check
out our other plugins:
* [Top 10](https://wordpress.org/plugins/top-10/) – Track daily and total visits
to your blog posts and display the popular and trending posts
* [WebberZone Snippetz](https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-to-all/) – The ultimate
snippet manager for WordPress to create and manage custom HTML, CSS or JS code
snippets
* [Knowledge Base](https://wordpress.org/plugins/knowledgebase/) – Create a knowledge
base or FAQ section on your WordPress site
* [Better Search](https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-search/) – Enhance the default
WordPress search with contextual results sorted by relevance
* [Auto-Close](https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoclose/) – Automatically close
comments, pingbacks and trackbacks and manage revisions
* [Popular Authors](https://wordpress.org/plugins/popular-authors/) – Display popular
authors in your WordPress widget
* [Followed Posts](https://wordpress.org/plugins/where-did-they-go-from-here/) –
Show a list of related posts based on what your users have read
* [WebberZone Link Warnings](https://wordpress.org/plugins/webberzone-link-warnings/)–
Add accessible warnings for external links and target=”_blank” links
## Screenshots
[⌊Related Posts (Rounded Thumbnails)⌉⌊Related Posts (Rounded Thumbnails)⌉[
Related Posts (Rounded Thumbnails)
[⌊Related Posts (Masonry)⌉⌊Related Posts (Masonry)⌉[
Related Posts (Masonry)
[⌊Related Posts (Grid)⌉⌊Related Posts (Grid)⌉[
Related Posts (Grid)
## Blocks
This plugin provides 1 block.
* Contextual Related Posts Display the Related Posts
## Installation
### WordPress install (the easy way)
1. Navigate to Plugins within your WordPress Admin Area
2. Click “Add new” and in the search box enter “Contextual Related Posts”
3. Find the plugin in the list (usually the first result) and click “Install Now”
### Manual install
1. Download the plugin
2. Extract the contents of contextual-related-posts.zip to wp-content/plugins/ folder.
You should get a folder called contextual-related-posts.
3. Activate the Plugin in WP-Admin under the Plugins screen
## FAQ
Check out the [FAQ on the plugin page](https://wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/faq/)
or the [Knowledge Base](https://webberzone.com/support/product/contextual-related-posts/).
If your question isn’t listed here, please create a new post at the [WordPress.org support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts).
### How can I customize the output?
Contextual Related Posts is highly customizable. There are several configurable
options on the Settings page, and you can use CSS to customize the outputs. Learn
more by reading [this article](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/customising-the-output-of-contextual-related-posts/).
### Shortcodes
You can insert the related posts anywhere in your post using the `[crp]` shortcode.
View [this article in the knowledge base](https://webberzone.com/support/knowledgebase/contextual-related-posts-shortcode/)
for more details.
### How can I report security bugs?
You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program.
The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities.
[Report a security vulnerability.](https://patchstack.com/database/vdp/contextual-related-posts)
### How does the plugin select thumbnails?
If you enable thumbnails, the plugin will try to find the correct thumbnail in this
order:
1. **Post Meta Field**: The image URL specified in the custom field (default is `post-
image`). Set this when editing your post.
2. **Featured Image**: The image set as the post’s Featured Image.
3. **First Image in Post Content**: The first image found in the post content (if
enabled in settings).
4. **First Child Image**: The first image attached to the post.
5. **Video Thumbnail**: If using the Video Thumbnails plugin, its generated thumbnail.
6. **Default Thumbnail**: If enabled in settings, the default thumbnail you specify.
7. **Site Icon**: The site’s icon set in Customizer or General Settings.
The plugin also handles SSL, resizing, and fallback mechanisms automatically for
each step.
## Reviews
### [Great plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-41501/)
[fellaixxo718](https://profiles.wordpress.org/fellaixxo718/) May 18, 2026 1 reply
And great support.
### [Great plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-41389/)
[Gerard Kanters](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gkanters/) March 28, 2026 1 reply
A very nice plugin with good support
### [Very nice support](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/very-nice-support-22/)
[istok](https://profiles.wordpress.org/istok/) February 15, 2026 1 reply
After reporting issues, quick answer and update 🙂
### [Perfekt](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/perfekt-248/)
[leifbength](https://profiles.wordpress.org/leifbength/) December 23, 2025
Fungerar mycket bra!
### [Great helpfull support](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-helpfull-support/)
[hanheg](https://profiles.wordpress.org/hanheg/) April 22, 2025
The CRP plugin has been working as a treat for our site, which hosts thousands of
posts. It has performed flawlessly for years. Recently, we encountered a caching
issue, but thanks to the outstanding support team, it was resolved quickly and efficiently.
They even provided us with the exact code needed to fix the problem.
### [Useful plugin, helpful author](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/useful-plugin-helpful-author/)
[Mew](https://profiles.wordpress.org/gokumew2/) February 22, 2025 1 reply
Very useful plugin with a lot of settings to customize, and the author is helpful
if you have any issues. Thank you!
[ Read all 201 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/)
## Contributors & Developers
“Contextual Related Posts” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Ajay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajay/)
* [ WebberZone ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/webberzone/)
“Contextual Related Posts” has been translated into 5 locales. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/contextual-related-posts/contributors)
for their contributions.
[Translate “Contextual Related Posts” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/contextual-related-posts)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contextual-related-posts/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/contextual-related-posts/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/contextual-related-posts/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/contextual-related-posts/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 4.5.0
Release date: 2 October 2026
Release post: https://webberzone.com/announcements/
contextual-related-posts-v4-5/
**Added**
* Added optional minimum relevance filtering to exclude weak matches, disabled
by default and unavailable on SQLite.
* Added a Status section to the Tools page showing database, index, cache and migration
health.
* Post edits and publishing triggered cache clearing for affected related lists.
* Added WordPress Abilities API support for retrieving related posts, with controls
for REST API and Abilities API access in the Features tab.
* Exposed `crp_cache_time` and `crp_cache_busting_settings` filters for cache lifetime
and invalidation.
* Related posts served through the REST API worked with TranslatePress.
* [Pro] Posts gained optional recency weighting with a configurable boost and half-
life, disabled by default.
* [Pro] Administrators gained abilities to clear the cache and set post exclusions.
* [Pro] Added WP-CLI commands to add, remove and list post exclusions.
* [Pro] The Tools status report gained custom-table health, index coverage and
reconciliation details.
* [Pro] Lazy-loaded related posts worked with TranslatePress.
* [Pro] Added a standalone Advanced block with six selectable patterns and separate
Settings and Styles tabs.
* [Pro] Added a Transform option to convert supported legacy CRP Query Loop blocks
to the Advanced block while preserving query settings and card content.
**Changed**
* Raised the minimum WordPress version to 6.9 for the Abilities API.
* Reduced cache-clearing overhead during imports, bulk edits and menu or template
saves.
* Cleared affected related lists when posts were trashed, independently of the
full-cache-flush setting.
* Updated related-post block icons with WebberZone’s amber and gold brand colors.
**Fixed**
* Cached related posts remained stale after ranking settings changed or settings
were reset.
* Cached related posts remained stale after Quick Edit, Bulk Edit, scheduled publishing
and other saves without the plugin’s meta box.
* Cached output could show another language’s titles and links on WPML, Polylang
and TranslatePress sites.
* [Pro] Related post images had incorrect or duplicated dimensions, borders or
shadows in Query Loop layouts.
#### Earlier versions
For the changelog of earlier versions, please refer to the [releases page on GitHub](https://github.com/WebberZone/contextual-related-posts/releases).
## Commercial plugin
This plugin is free but offers additional paid commercial upgrades or support. [View support](https://webberzone.com/request-support/)
## Meta
* Version **4.5.0**
* Last updated **2 days ago**
* Active installations **50.000+**
* WordPress version ** 6.9 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.1.2**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Languages
* [Dutch](https://nl.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/), [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/),
[French (France)](https://fr.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/),
[Persian](https://fa.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/), [Spanish (Chile)](https://cl.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/),
and [Spanish (Spain)](https://es.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/).
* [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/contextual-related-posts)
* Tags
* [contextual related posts](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/contextual-related-posts/)
[related](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/related/)[related posts](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/related-posts/)
[seo](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/)[similar posts](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/similar-posts/)
* [Advanced View](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/advanced/)
## Ratings
4.8 out of 5 stars.
* [ 184 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/?filter=5)
* [ 9 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/?filter=4)
* [ 2 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/?filter=3)
* [ 2 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/?filter=2)
* [ 4 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/?filter=1)
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Ajay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ajay/)
* [ WebberZone ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/webberzone/)
## Support
Issues resolved in last two months:
1 out of 1
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/contextual-related-posts/)
## Donate
Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?
[ Donate to this plugin ](https://wzn.io/donate-crp)