Using too many plugins on a WordPress installation usually slower the loading time of the site, especially when same can be achieved using a simple piece of code. Though its not always wise to use codes in your wordpress themes, especially if you are not familiar with them. Here we will show you how to Show Related Posts Without Plugin which will be based on the tags you will use in your posts. Hope this helps some.
Procedure:
Note: Do take backup of your theme before you try this.
01. Go to Appearance => Editor.

02. Then choose functions.php file from right hand side and add below code:

extract(shortcode_atts(array(
‘limit’ => ’5′,
), $atts));
global $wpdb, $post, $table_prefix;
if ($post->ID) {
$retval = ‘<ul>’;
// Get tags
$tags = wp_get_post_tags($post->ID);
$tagsarray = array();
foreach ($tags as $tag) {
$tagsarray[] = $tag->term_id;
}
$tagslist = implode(‘,’, $tagsarray);
// Do the query
$q = "SELECT p.*, count(tr.object_id) as count
FROM $wpdb->term_taxonomy AS tt, $wpdb->term_relationships AS tr, $wpdb->posts AS p WHERE tt.taxonomy =’post_tag’ AND tt.term_taxonomy_id = tr.term_taxonomy_id AND tr.object_id = p.ID AND tt.term_id IN ($tagslist) AND p.ID != $post->ID
AND p.post_status = ‘publish’
AND p.post_date_gmt < NOW()
GROUP BY tr.object_id
ORDER BY count DESC, p.post_date_gmt DESC
LIMIT $limit;";
$related = $wpdb->get_results($q);
if ( $related ) {
foreach($related as $r) {
$retval .= ‘
<li><a title="’.wptexturize($r->post_title).’" href="’.get_permalink($r->ID).’">’.wptexturize($r->post_title).’</a></li>
‘;
}
} else {
$retval .= ‘
<li>No related posts found</li>
‘;
}
$retval .= ‘</ul>
‘;
return $retval;
}
return;
}
add_shortcode(‘related_posts’, ‘related_posts_shortcode’);
03. Save file. Now open single.php file and place following lines where you want your Related Posts to appear:

04. Save file and you are done.
For New WordPress Users:
You can try out following recommended plugins:
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin
Or
Similar Posts
Further Resources:
That concludes this simple and useful tutorial. Hope you like it.
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Very helpful post! I love finding ways to work around plugins.
Very helpful post! I love finding ways to work around plugins.
Glad you like this.
Glad you like this.
That was useful. I'll try to use this on my blog.
That was useful. I'll try to use this on my blog.
This is cool stuff buddy. I always try to reduce the no. of plugins used for my site.
This is cool stuff buddy. I always try to reduce the no. of plugins used for my site.
That's great! Minus a plugin in the endless plugins list! Thanks!
That's great! Minus a plugin in the endless plugins list! Thanks!
Hey,
this is great. It is more flexible and more related then the plugins I have tried before.
Thanks for this nice snippet
Cheers Haburi
Hey,
this is great. It is more flexible and more related then the plugins I have tried before.
Thanks for this nice snippet
Cheers Haburi
Glad this helped you.
Glad this helped you.
Glad this helped you.
Glad this helped you.
You are welcome.
You are welcome.
Glad this helped you.
Glad this helped you.
Thanks for showing us how to show related posts without a plugin. Its really helpful, because when you modify plugins, you can no longer update it.
Thanks for sharing!!
Nice tutorial, but if you don't mind, would you please give a tutorial how to make related posts with thumbnails just like the related posts in this site. Thanks
This site use YARPP plugin (see the link at end of the tuto). You can also take a look at this: http://wordpress.shaldybina.com/plugins/related...