Hello,
The Recent Topics widget currently has no option to display topics in random order.
Adding this would be very useful for keeping the forum looking active and fresh, and it would also provide SEO benefits by surfacing older topics regularly.
Could you please provide a code snippet (or guidance) to make the widget select topics in random order directly from the database, rather than just shuffling the topics it has already selected?
Thank you for your help!
Hello, I am so happy to see you added the random sorting in the "recent topics", this is a big enhancement in my opinion.
After updating the plugin, I flushed all caches, as well as the cache of the theme I am using, Avada, but I am not able to see the option for random rendering in the widget settings.
Any suggestions?
Many thanks.
My apology! I found it!
The option is in the right side drop down, where the ordering of ascending or descending is.
Its working well!
Excellent.
Suggestion: Add Random Rendering + Limit Option to Forums Widget
I’m very happy to report that the new Random Rendering option for the Recent Topics widget has already given my site a noticeable boost in rankings and traffic. Google clearly sees the dynamic variety — every page load displays different topics — and has acted on it quickly.
I’d like to request the same functionality for the Forums widget. At the moment, this widget has VERY limited value:
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There’s no way to limit the number of forums displayed (I don’t want 200 forums filling my sidebar).
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There’s no way to randomize which forums show up on each page load.
If we could limit the display to, say, 5–10 forums and have them rendered randomly on every load, it would:
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Expose all forums evenly over time.
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Get them indexed by Google faster.
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Drive more clicks and traffic from the main site into the forum.
This improvement would benefit all WPForo users, as it directly enhances both engagement and SEO performance.
Thanks!
