Title: Random Post on Refresh Author: Micah Wood Published: March 30, 2018 Last modified: May 25, 2025 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/random-post-on-refresh/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3300317) # Random Post on Refresh By [Micah Wood](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpscholar/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/random-post-on-refresh.1.2.3.zip) * [Details](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/#description) * [Reviews](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/#reviews) * [Installation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/#installation) * [Development](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/) ## Description The **Random Post on Refresh** plugin allows you to randomly display a different post on every page load. Using this plugin is simple: 1. Install the plugin 2. Activate the plugin 3. On the page or post where you want to have a random post display, add the `[random_post_on_refresh]` shortcode where you want your post to appear. 4. Save your changes. #### Features * Works with custom post types * No settings page, just an easy way for you to add random posts to your site * Clean, well written code that won’t bog down your site ## Installation #### Prerequisites If you don’t meet the below requirements, I highly recommend you upgrade your WordPress install or move to a web host that supports a more recent version of PHP. * Requires WordPress version 6.4 or greater * Requires PHP version 7.4 or greater #### The Easy Way 1. In your WordPress admin, go to ‘Plugins’ and then click on ‘Add New’. 2. In the search box, type in ‘Random Post on Refresh’ and hit enter. This plugin should be the first and likely the only result. 3. Click on the ‘Install’ link. 4. Once installed, click the ‘Activate this plugin’ link. #### The Hard Way 1. Download the .zip file containing the plugin. 2. Upload the file into your `/wp-content/plugins/` directory and unzip 3. Find the plugin in the WordPress admin on the ‘Plugins’ page and click ‘Activate’ ## FAQ The `[random_post_on_refresh]` shortcode supports a few attributes to give you more control over the results: * **author** – Provide an author ID or a comma-separated list of author IDs if you want to limit the random post to one of those authors. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh author="1, 11, 14"]` * **ids** – Provide a comma-separated list of post IDs to pull random posts from. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh ids="19, 87, 113, 997"]` * **image_required** – Only applies when the `show` attribute contains `image`. This attribute defaults to `true` and will cause WordPress to filter out any posts without images. If set to `false`, then posts with or without images will be shown. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh show="title, image" image_required ="false"]` * **not** – Provide a comma-separated list of post IDs to exclude. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh not="3, 456, 876"]` * **order** – Can be either ‘asc’ or ‘desc’. Defaults to ‘desc’. * **orderby** – Customize how WordPress orders the fetched results. See https:// developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_query/#order-orderby-parameters * **post_type** – Provide a post type or a comma-separated list of post types to pull from. You must use the internal post type name. Default is `post`. Example:`[ random_post_on_refresh post_type="page"]` * **posts_per_page** – Provide the number of posts to fetch. Defaults to 100. Posts are randomly selected from the posts fetched. * **search** – Provide a custom search term to limit the random posts returned. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh search="relativity"]` * **taxonomy** – Provide a custom taxonomy to pull from. Requires the `terms` attribute to be set as well. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh taxonomy="post_tag" terms ="2,4"]` * **terms** – Provide a term ID or comma-separated list of term IDs to limit the random posts returned. Requires the `taxonomy` attribute to be set as well. Example:`[ random_post_on_refresh taxonomy="post_tag" terms="2,4"]` * **class** – Provide a custom class name for the wrapping HTML div. Example: `[ random_post_on_refresh class="my-custom-class"]` * **size** – Provide a registered image size to use for image display (optional, only takes effect if images are being shown). Example: `[random_post_on_refresh size="thumbnail"]` * **show** – Provide a comma-separated list of post elements to display. You can also use a vertical pipe `|` character instead of a comma to separate items into columns. Options are: title, image, excerpt, content. Defaults to `title, image, excerpt`. Items will show in the order you provide. Note: If images are shown, only posts with featured images will be returned. Example: `[random_post_on_refresh show="title, image"]` Keep in mind that any of these attributes can be combined as needed. Example: `[ random_post_on_refresh author="19" size="full" not="2310"]`. Also, keep in mind that the shortcode can be used in text widgets. ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/796b807d306c0108d0ef8c7fcd068792a93739d9351e2a298a5de1c12e41ee22? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Simple Perfection](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/simple-perfection-4/)󠁿 [mrtoddkennedy](https://profiles.wordpress.org/mrtoddkennedy/) October 21, 2025 Exactly what I was looking for, works perfectly every time, easy to implement! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5c9224b0079a03c0b476f332de5d848040f80a18c97af7f03bae980e776e1dd1? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Works perfectly!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-perfectly-2475/)󠁿 [Jericho](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jerichomontes/) June 13, 2022 1 reply Thanks for this plugin! 🙂 ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/09b76a6d337efa172e50621e21a21068d90e727c51aa368101db5af0c888f03b? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Perfect](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/perfect-8278/)󠁿 [unruly333](https://profiles.wordpress.org/unruly333/) March 11, 2021 1 reply Feels light weight and does exactly what it says it does. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/29507c2bad15bbfd68e731eb7a4a956cab9681efe96e81092694bfdc96baf13a? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[super](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/super-2076/)󠁿 [loupiloop](https://profiles.wordpress.org/loupiloop/) January 10, 2021 thanks for this plugin ! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/1d11e3caddc7695572a005f74e3ff35b40dc87d1a8da5da26ebd3b4d4ef8877f? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Great plugin!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-27884/)󠁿 [jodirogers](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jodirogers/) September 17, 2020 1 reply Works like a charm, does exactly what I wanted it to do! Thanks Micah! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b4a2184f98e3d34ddfd809dc0428132bb53a7f831ec7461101ca87cc11402e21? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Works great](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-great-6815/)󠁿 [jeffw203](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jeffw203/) May 29, 2020 1 reply Does exactly what it says it does. Be sure to suppress caching on the pages that you use it. [ Read all 6 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Random Post on Refresh” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Micah Wood ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpscholar/) * [ imzodigital ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/imzodigital/) “Random Post on Refresh” has been translated into 1 locale. Thank you to [the translators](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/random-post-on-refresh/contributors) for their contributions. [Translate “Random Post on Refresh” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/random-post-on-refresh) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/random-post-on-refresh/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/random-post-on-refresh/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/random-post-on-refresh/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/random-post-on-refresh/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.2.3 * Allow customization of order and orderby query args. #### 1.2.2 * General maintenance * Allow customization of posts_per_page query arg #### 1.2.1 * General maintenance * Allow filtering of query args #### 1.2 * Added a shortcode attribute to allow posts without images to be shown when the` show` attribute contains `image`. * Bug fix for certain strings not being translatable. #### 1.1.1 * Fixed bug where post excerpts were being generated incorrectly. #### 1.1 * Ensure code meets coding standards. * Don’t allow the current post to be selected as the random post. * Always return the last 100 matching items and select the random post from one of those. * Tested in WordPress 5.0 #### 1.0 * Tested in WordPress version 4.9.2 ## Meta * Version **1.2.3** * Last updated **10 months ago** * Active installations **400+** * WordPress version ** 6.4 or higher ** * Tested up to **6.8.5** * PHP version ** 7.4 or higher ** * Languages * [Chinese (Taiwan)](https://tw.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/) and [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/). * [Translate into your language](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/random-post-on-refresh) * Tags * [different post](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/different-post/)[post rotation](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/post-rotation/) [random post](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/random-post/) * [Advanced View](https://pcd.wordpress.org/plugins/random-post-on-refresh/advanced/) ## Ratings 5 out of 5 stars. * [ 6 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 0 4-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/?filter=1) [Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Micah Wood ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/wpscholar/) * [ imzodigital ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/imzodigital/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/random-post-on-refresh/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://www.paypal.me/wpscholar)