This plugin shows a list of related post, called by rss.

Do you think that you’re the only one who is writing about these things? Honestly, if my answer disappoints you, you should know that you’re not the only one who is writing about these things. So, in this point comes this plugin to help you.

You could generate a link list of articles from other blogs, simply adding a custom field. The generated list it’s based on Google BlogSearch, this means that in the created custom field, the value, will be a construction of keywords, which will be able to show other articles from other blogs, having the same subject.

Installation

If you want this plugin to work for your blog, follow the steps:

1. Download the plugin and extract files.
2. With a FTP client (if you use Firefox, I recommend FireFTP) put the plugin directory in /wp-content/plugins.
3. Enter in Dashboard and activate this plugin in Plugins section.

How can I use this great plugin?

This plugin needs a dedicated space on your blog, to rule. Here are some methods of showing the RSS list of Related Posts:

• Acces “Theme editor” (Dashboard->Appearance->Editor) and select to edit  “Single post” that is single.php file from your wordpress theme. Search in cod <?php the_content();?> and replace it by :

<?php
the_content();
echo ‘<h2>Other articles about the same subject</h2>’;
rss_related_posts(10);
?>

• Acces “Theme editor” (Dashboard->Appearance->Editor) and select to edit  “Single post” that is single.php file from your wordpress theme. Search in cod <?php the_content();?> and put this code after:

<?php
echo ‘<h2>Other articles about the same subject</h2>’;
rss_related_posts(10);
?>

• Acces “Theme editor” (Dashboard->Appearance->Editor) and select to edit  “Single post” that is single.php file from your wordpress theme. Search in cod <?php the_content();?> and put this code after :

<?php
echo ‘<div id=”rss-related-posts”>’;
echo ‘<h2>Other articles about the same subject</h2>’;
rss_related_posts(10);
echo ‘</div>’;
?>

Then edit style.css and add the <div id=”rss-related-posts”> statements, that are:

#rss-related-posts { width: 90%; padding: 10px; margin: 15px auto}
#rss-related-posts { border:none; background:transparent none repeat scroll 0 0}
#rss-related-posts ul {border: none; margin-bottom: 5px;}
#rss-related-posts ul li {padding: 5px 0px; border: none}

Or be cretive and use next to the basic function of showing the plugin , that is <?php rss_related_posts(10); ?> anything in anyway you wish. Please , just let me know, I’m curious what you can do with this plugin.

After that, just add a new custom field on every article or post. That custom field must be named Subject (attention at the first letter, must be S not s) and the value of that custom field is the word or the phrase which the rss related posts list want to be about. Let me illuminate you, if your article is about how to make a pizza, you should have the value of the Subject custom field as “make pizza” or “how to make pizza” , dependig, on which results are more appropriate to what you want. You can check the rss related posts list on your post page, perhaps you change your mind then you can edit that custom field and the list would change to.

FAQ of how to use!

Q: The 10 number from the function can be replaced?

A: Yes!The 10 from the code expresses the number of links from the list. You can change it with any number you want from 1 to 20 (the maximum value accepted for links in RSS mode is 20, but if  there are activated settings, there will be shown maximum 10).

Q: The value of the Subject custom field can be used more complex?

A: After you chose how to represent the list of the quoted links, you have to add to your articles the magic so that the list can be shown. Edit the article and add a new custom field with the name Subject and with the value described through keywords separated by space.The value of this custom field can be a logic phrase (ex: how to make money) or may be a group of words that can be find in your article (ex: school, techer, exams). A secret aplicated to this custom field, which counts on the search rule of google of exact phrases, it’s good to be taken into consideration. That is, if the quoted phrase is writen between inverted commas (Ex: “how to make money”), the list shown on your blog will contain links to other articles that have exactly the same phrase. The difference between is that, if , in the first case, the results will contain even separated words, in the second case we will have just tha compact phrase.