WP News and Scrolling Widgets

77 Quality Score

Active Installs

18/30

With about 10,000 active installs, the plugin has a modest but real audience and is not a hidden obscurity, though it is far from mainstream.

Update Freshness

23/25

A last-updated date of February 2026 and confirmed compatibility with WordPress 6.9.4 show the author is actively maintaining the code against current core releases.

User Rating

13/15

An 88 out of 100 across 81 ratings indicates a positive track record, though the small sample size means the average could shift quickly with a few new reviews.

Support Health

8/15

Zero support threads opened and zero resolved is a neutral signal: either the plugin works well enough that users do not need help, or users are abandoning it without seeking assistance through the official channel.

WP Compatibility

15/15

A minimum requirement of WordPress 4.0, recent testing against 6.9.4, and a no-PHP-dependency model mean it will run on virtually any host still in use today.

Scores higher than 54% of indexed plugins

About

A quick, easy way to add an News custom post type, News widget, vertical scrolling news widget to WordPress. Also work with Gutenberg shortcode block.

Active Installs 10k+

Rating ★★★★ 4.4/5

Last Updated 2026-02-20 7:18pm GMT

Requires WordPress 4.0+

Tested Up To 6.9.4

Security History

3 known vulnerabilities, all patched

1 Critical 2 Medium

Most recent: April 9, 2026

View details ▸

What It Does

WP News and Scrolling Widgets registers a dedicated News custom post type in WordPress and pairs it with widgets that display recent or featured news items, including a vertical scrolling ticker. The plugin also ships a Gutenberg shortcode block, so you can drop a news feed into any page, post, or widget area without touching PHP. In practice, it gives smaller publications a turnkey way to separate editorial content from regular blog posts.

Who It's For

This plugin fits small to mid-size news sites, community newspapers, school or sports blogs, and corporate intranets that need a clearly labelled news section distinct from a standard blog. It is a good match for non-technical publishers who want preset widgets and shortcodes rather than building custom queries. Sites that already run a full editorial suite will find it redundant.

Who Should Skip It

If you are already using a dedicated editorial framework like PublishPress, WordPress core's built-in categories, or a theme that ships with its own news module, skip this plugin to avoid duplicating post types. Teams that need ticketing, editorial workflows, or paywall integration should look at a full publication platform instead of a lightweight widget addon.

The Bottom Line

WP News and Scrolling Widgets is a focused, well-maintained utility that does one thing reasonably well: it gives a WordPress site a separate news content type with ready-made widgets and a shortcode block. The Overall Quality Score of 78.61 reflects solid upkeep and good user feedback tempered by a small user base and an untested support channel. For a simple, self-hosted news section on a budget, it is a reasonable pick; for anything more ambitious, look further up the stack.

Use Cases

news website online magazine blog with multiple authors local news publication media agency corporate communication hub sports blog entertainment website digital newspaper content-heavy website