Post Type Spotlight
Active Installs
20+
Last Updated
September 17, 2026
First Released
February 25, 2013
Download History (Last one month)
Contributors
The plugin displays a checkbox in the publish meta box to feature a post. The checkbox only appears on admin selected post types which can be selected in the Settings->Writing screen.
When a post is designated as featured:
- It receives ‘featured’ and
featured-{$posttype}classes via the post_class filter. - Shows featured posts as such in the post type’s admin screen
- Assigns a post a hidden taxonomy term (featured) that can easily be queried.
- Can be listed with the Featured List block, a variation of the core Query Loop block.
Note: For the plugin to work on attachments, you must be using 3.5 or above. All other features will work on 3.1.0 and up.
- Upload the plugin folder to the
/wp-content/plugins/directory - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Navigate to the Settings->Writing section and select the post types you would like to have the featured abilities.
Until step 3 is done the plugin has nothing to act on, so it shows an admin notice linking to that screen. The plugin’s row on the Plugins screen also gains a Settings link to the same place.
This is not the same as sticky posts. Sticky functionality can only be applied to the core ‘post’ post type. More information on why
This snippet of code will fetch the 10 most recent posts that are featured.
<?php
$featured_posts = new WP_Query( array(
'post_type' => 'post',
'posts_per_page' => 10,
'tax_query' => array(
array(
'taxonomy' => 'pts_feature_tax',
'field' => 'slug',
'terms' => array( 'featured' ),
)
)
) );
if ( $featured_posts->have_posts() ) : while ( $featured_posts->have_posts() ) : $featured_posts->the_post();
//output featured posts here
endwhile; endif;
?>“
Add the Featured List block. Search the inserter for “featured” or “spotlight” — it carries the Post Type Spotlight mark.
It is a variation of the core Query Loop block with one extra setting. Its Spotlight panel has a Show control offering:
- Only featured — only the posts marked as featured.
- Featured first — every post, with the featured ones moved to the top. This is what sticky posts do, except it works on any post type you have enabled.
- Exclude featured — every post except the featured ones.
To choose how many posts it shows, use the Query Loop’s own Items per page setting in the Display panel.
Putting a Featured first or Only featured loop above an Exclude featured loop gives you a highlights section with the rest of the posts underneath and nothing repeated.
Changelog
3.0.0
- Improved compatibility with the Block Editor and the enhancements it brings
- Added npm as base package manager
- Added ESLint for JS linting
- Added Stylelint for CSS linting
- Added EditorConfig for consistent coding styles
- Added Husky for pre-commit hooks
- Added Prettier for code formatting
- Added PHPCS for PHP linting
- Added WPCS for WordPress PHP linting
- Added Composer for PHP package management
- Added wp-scripts for WordPress build scripts
- Added webpack for JS module bundling
- Added a new Featured Posts Variation of the Query Loop
- Added the ability to filter teh Featured Posts Query Loop to only show featured posts
- Added the ability to filter the Featured Posts Query Loop to show all posts excluding featured posts
- Added the ability to filter the Featured Posts Query Loop to show all posts and show featured posts first (similar to sticky)
- Added the ability to sort post lists by featured posts.
- Removed Babel for js transpiling as it wasn’t needed any more
- Removed Yarn as package manager
- Removed Gulp as build tool
- Numerous bug fixes, minor security updates within build process (non frontend facing) and improvements
2.2.0
- Updated the build process
- Updated PHPCS and WPCS
- Updated Branding
- Updated readme by making it more readable
- Added Gutenberg/Block Editor support
2.1.5
- Add support for translate.wordpress.org.
2.1.4
- Don’t show the featured taxonomy on nav menu edit areas.
2.1.3
- Fix another potential PHP notice.
2.1.2
- Fix PHP warning when checking for the old method of querying for featured posts.
2.1.1
- Fix deprecated widget instantiation method.
2.1
- Don’t erase other terms in the pts_feature_tax assigned to the post on save. This opens up potential to have more than one type of “featured”, (e.g. recommended).
2.0
- Changing how featured posts are designated. Instead of post meta, the plugin now uses a hidden taxonomy.
- Added a widget for showing featured posts.
- Fixed the post_class filter to work properly on secondary loops.
- Fixed bug where the featured column would not show when viewing Media in the admin with list view.
- Fixed bug where saving settings did not always work.
- Changed the featured star in the admin to use the WordPress Dashicon font.
1.0
- Hello world!
- Add settings to the Settings->Writing page allowing admins to select the post types that can be featured.
- Add a check box in the publish meta box for marking a post as featured.
- Featured posts receive a featured and featured-{$posttype} class on them via the post_class filter.
- Admin post type screens have a column for Featured noting which posts are in fact featured.
Available Versions
| Version | Download | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1.1 | Download | Stable |
| 3.1.0 | Download | Stable |
| 3.0.3 | Download | Stable |
| 3.0.2 | Download | Stable |
| 3.0.1 | Download | Stable |
| 3.0.0 | Download | Stable |
| 2.2.0 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.5 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.4 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.3 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.2 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.1 | Download | Stable |
| 2.1.0 | Download | Stable |
| 2.0.0 | Download | Stable |
| 1.1 | Download | Stable |
| 1.0.1 | Download | Stable |
| 1.0 | Download | Stable |
| Development | Download | Trunk |
