Wordpress: Custom Shortcode for Recent Posts

Shortcodes in WordPress provide a powerful way to add dynamic content to posts or pages. This snippet creates a custom shortcode that displays a list of recent posts, which can be easily added to any part of the site via the editor.

The add_shortcode function is used to define a new shortcode [recent_posts] that generates an HTML list of the latest posts. Users can customize the number of posts displayed by passing a parameter to the shortcode.

This example includes details on how to query the posts using WP_Query and how to loop through the results to build the output list. It also covers how to make the output customizable via attributes in the shortcode, like the number of posts to display.

Additional features such as including post thumbnails or excerpts in the output are discussed, along with how to handle empty results or errors gracefully.

The snippet also provides tips on styling the output of the shortcode using CSS, ensuring that it blends seamlessly with the site's design.