Title: WP_Widget_Recent_Posts::widget
Published: April 25, 2014
Last modified: May 20, 2026

---

# WP_Widget_Recent_Posts::widget( array $args, array $instance )

## In this article

 * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#parameters)
 * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#source)
 * [Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#hooks)
 * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#related)
 * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#changelog)

[ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target)

Outputs the content for the current Recent Posts widget instance.

## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿

 `$args`arrayrequired

Display arguments including `'before_title'`, `'after_title'`, `'before_widget'`,
and `'after_widget'`.

`$instance`arrayrequired

Settings for the current Recent Posts widget instance.

## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#source)󠁿

    ```php
    public function widget( $args, $instance ) {
    	if ( ! isset( $args['widget_id'] ) ) {
    		$args['widget_id'] = $this->id;
    	}

    	$default_title = __( 'Recent Posts' );
    	$title         = ( ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ) ? $instance['title'] : $default_title;

    	/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-pages.php */
    	$title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base );

    	$number = ( ! empty( $instance['number'] ) ) ? absint( $instance['number'] ) : 5;
    	if ( ! $number ) {
    		$number = 5;
    	}
    	$show_date = $instance['show_date'] ?? false;

    	$r = new WP_Query(
    		/**
    		 * Filters the arguments for the Recent Posts widget.
    		 *
    		 * @since 3.4.0
    		 * @since 4.9.0 Added the `$instance` parameter.
    		 *
    		 * @see WP_Query::get_posts()
    		 *
    		 * @param array $args     An array of arguments used to retrieve the recent posts.
    		 * @param array $instance Array of settings for the current widget.
    		 */
    		apply_filters(
    			'widget_posts_args',
    			array(
    				'posts_per_page'      => $number,
    				'no_found_rows'       => true,
    				'post_status'         => 'publish',
    				'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
    			),
    			$instance
    		)
    	);

    	if ( ! $r->have_posts() ) {
    		return;
    	}
    	?>

    	<?php echo $args['before_widget']; ?>

    	<?php
    	if ( $title ) {
    		echo $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title'];
    	}

    	$format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'navigation-widgets' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml';

    	/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-nav-menu-widget.php */
    	$format = apply_filters( 'navigation_widgets_format', $format );

    	if ( 'html5' === $format ) {
    		// The title may be filtered: Strip out HTML and make sure the aria-label is never empty.
    		$title      = trim( strip_tags( $title ) );
    		$aria_label = $title ? $title : $default_title;
    		echo '<nav aria-label="' . esc_attr( $aria_label ) . '">';
    	}
    	?>

    	<ul>
    		<?php foreach ( $r->posts as $recent_post ) : ?>
    			<?php
    			$post_title   = get_the_title( $recent_post->ID );
    			$title        = ( ! empty( $post_title ) ) ? $post_title : __( '(no title)' );
    			$aria_current = '';

    			if ( get_queried_object_id() === $recent_post->ID ) {
    				$aria_current = ' aria-current="page"';
    			}
    			?>
    			<li>
    				<a href="<?php the_permalink( $recent_post->ID ); ?>"<?php echo $aria_current; ?>><?php echo $title; ?></a>
    				<?php if ( $show_date ) : ?>
    					<span class="post-date"><?php echo get_the_date( '', $recent_post->ID ); ?></span>
    				<?php endif; ?>
    			</li>
    		<?php endforeach; ?>
    	</ul>

    	<?php
    	if ( 'html5' === $format ) {
    		echo '</nav>';
    	}

    	echo $args['after_widget'];
    }
    ```

[View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-posts.php/)
[View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.0/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-posts.php#L44)
[View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.0/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-posts.php#L44-L136)

## 󠀁[Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#hooks)󠁿

 [apply_filters( ‘navigation_widgets_format’, string $format )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/navigation_widgets_format/)

Filters the HTML format of widgets with navigation links.

 [apply_filters( ‘widget_posts_args’, array $args, array $instance )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_posts_args/)

Filters the arguments for the Recent Posts widget.

 [apply_filters( ‘widget_title’, string $title, array $instance, mixed $id_base )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_title/)

Filters the widget title.

## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#related)󠁿

| Uses | Description | 
| [get_the_date()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_date/)`wp-includes/general-template.php` |

Retrieves the date of the post.

  | 
| [WP_Query::__construct()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/__construct/)`wp-includes/class-wp-query.php` |

Constructor.

  | 
| [get_queried_object_id()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_queried_object_id/)`wp-includes/query.php` |

Retrieves the ID of the currently queried object.

  | 
| [the_permalink()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/the_permalink/)`wp-includes/link-template.php` |

Displays the permalink for the current post.

  | 
| [get_the_title()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_title/)`wp-includes/post-template.php` |

Retrieves the post title.

  | 
| [current_theme_supports()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/current_theme_supports/)`wp-includes/theme.php` |

Checks a theme’s support for a given feature.

  | 
| [__()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` |

Retrieves the translation of $text.

  | 
| [esc_attr()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_attr/)`wp-includes/formatting.php` |

Escaping for HTML attributes.

  | 
| [absint()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/absint/)`wp-includes/load.php` |

Converts a value to non-negative integer.

  | 
| [apply_filters()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/apply_filters/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` |

Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.

  |

[Show 5 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#)
[Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#)

## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_posts/widget/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿

| Version | Description | 
| [2.8.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/2.8.0/) | Introduced. |

## User Contributed Notes

You must [log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fblue-sea-697d.quartiers047.workers.dev%3A443%2Fhttps%2Fdeveloper.wordpress.org%2Freference%2Fclasses%2Fwp_widget_recent_posts%2Fwidget%2F)
before being able to contribute a note or feedback.