=== Mevabi – Related Posts Inline === Contributors: mevabien22 Tags: related posts, inline related posts, related content, related posts widget, automatic related posts, content recommendation, internal links, post suggestions, content marketing, seo internal linking Requires at least: 5.9 Tested up to: 7.0 Stable tag: 1.1.1 Requires PHP: 7.4 License: GPL-2.0-or-later License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html Automatically display related posts inline inside your content or at the end — with three modern card designs, full color control, and zero dependencies. == Description == **Mevabi – Related Posts Inline** is the WordPress plugin that automatically inserts related post suggestions *directly inside* your article content — not just at the bottom where readers have already left. Surface the right content at the right moment, reduce bounce rate, and keep visitors reading longer. Whether you call it *inline related posts*, *automatic related posts*, *in-content post suggestions*, or simply a *related posts widget*, Mevabi handles it all from a single, clean settings panel — no shortcodes, no Gutenberg blocks, no coding required. --- = Why Inline Related Posts? = Most related posts plugins append a block at the very end of an article — after readers have already decided to leave. **Mevabi places related content inline**, evenly distributed throughout the body text, so post suggestions appear exactly when reader attention is highest. The result: more pageviews, better time-on-site, and stronger internal linking for SEO. --- = Key Features = **Placement & Display** **Two placement modes** — Append related posts at the *end* of the content, or *distribute them inline* evenly between paragraphs for maximum engagement. **1–3 related posts per block** — Choose how many post cards appear in each insertion point. **Match by category or tags** — Control which taxonomy drives the related posts logic so suggestions are always contextually relevant. **Three Modern Card Designs** **Design 1 · Solid + Arrow** — Bold full-color card with a large right-hand arrow CTA. Section title displayed above the card box. **Design 2 · Grey · Centered** — Clean light-grey card with centered text and the section title inside the box. Minimal and elegant, no arrow. **Design 3 · Image + Arrow** — Like Design 1 but with the post's featured image displayed on the left side of the card for visual impact. **Full Color Customization** Per-design color control via native WordPress color pickers — background, hover state, post title, excerpt text, arrow, section label, border color, and border-radius are all individually configurable. Changes reflect immediately with no need to write CSS. **Typography Controls** Set font sizes (accepts any CSS unit: px, em, rem, %) independently for the section title, post title, and excerpt. **Content & Excerpt** **Optional post excerpt** — Show a short descriptive excerpt below the post title. Shortcode tags and HTML are stripped automatically so the text is always clean. **Smart excerpt fallback** — If a post begins with a shortcode block, Mevabi skips it and uses the first real text paragraph instead. **UX & Accessibility** **Fully clickable cards** — The entire card surface is a single anchor link; no confusing partial click zones. **Link target control** — Open related posts in the same tab or a new tab (with proper `rel="noopener noreferrer"` for security). **Custom section title** — Define your own heading label shown above or inside each related posts block (e.g. "You might also like", "Keep reading", "Related articles"). **Performance** **Lightweight and fast** — Zero jQuery, zero external libraries. Vanilla JavaScript plus a single minified CSS file. No impact on Core Web Vitals or PageSpeed scores. **No external API calls**, no tracking scripts, no bloat. --- = SEO Benefits = Inline related posts directly improve on-page SEO metrics: * **Reduces bounce rate** by surfacing relevant internal links before readers leave. * **Increases pages per session** by guiding visitors to related content naturally. * **Strengthens internal link structure** — each related posts block creates contextual internal links that distribute PageRank across your site. * **Improves dwell time**, a positive engagement signal for search engines. --- = Perfect For = * Blogs and content-heavy WordPress sites * News and magazine themes * Affiliate and review sites aiming to reduce exit rate * Publishers looking to improve internal linking without manual effort * SEO professionals wanting automatic related post links throughout content --- = Privacy = This plugin does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data. It is fully GDPR-compliant. == Installation == 1. Upload the `mevabi-related-posts-inline` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory, **or** install directly via **Plugins → Add New** in your WordPress admin and search for "Mevabi Related Posts Inline". 2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** menu. 3. Go to **Settings → Related Posts Inline** to configure placement, design, colors, and typography. == Frequently Asked Questions == = Will related posts show on pages, archives, or custom post types? = No. Related posts are injected only on single blog posts (`is_single()`), within the main query loop. Pages, archives, and custom post types are not affected. = What happens if a post has no matching category or tag? = No related posts block will be shown. The post content is returned completely unmodified. = What happens if the content has fewer than two paragraphs and inline mode is selected? = The plugin automatically falls back to appending the related posts block at the end of the content, so something always appears even on very short posts. = Does Design 3 require a featured image on related posts? = No. If a related post has no featured image, the card is displayed without the image column. Design 3 gracefully degrades to a layout similar to Design 1. = Is the excerpt safe from shortcode execution? = Yes. All shortcode tags are stripped with a regex pass before the text is sanitized with `wp_strip_all_tags()`, so no shortcode is ever executed inside the excerpt area. = Can I use this plugin on a multisite installation? = Yes. Settings are stored per-site using the standard WordPress options API, so each site in the network can have its own independent configuration. = How is "related" determined? = In the free version, you can choose either categories or tags as the matching taxonomy. Posts that share the most terms with the current post are surfaced first. = Does this plugin slow down my site? = No. Mevabi uses no jQuery, no external libraries, and makes no external HTTP requests. It outputs a single small CSS file and uses vanilla JavaScript only when needed. The performance impact is negligible. = How many related posts can I show? = The free version supports 1, 2, or 3 related posts per block. = Is there a Pro version? = Yes. Mevabi Pro unlocks additional designs (Designs 4–6), advanced relation types (shared tags + categories, manual exclusions, minimum word count filtering), a click-tracking Stats dashboard, and more display modes. == Screenshots == 1. Design 1 – Solid color card with arrow CTA and section title displayed above the box. 2. Design 2 – Light grey card with centered text and section title inside the box. 3. Design 3 – Solid color card with featured image on the left and arrow CTA. 4. Admin – General settings tab (placement, taxonomy, post count, section title, link target). 5. Admin – Design & Colors tab with live color pickers for full per-design customization. 6. Admin – Typography tab with independent font-size controls. == Changelog == = 1.1.1 = * Confirmed compatibility with WordPress 7.0 (updated "Tested up to" header). * Improved readme.txt with expanded feature descriptions and SEO-optimized content for WordPress.org search visibility. * Minor code cleanup and inline documentation improvements. * No functional changes; safe to update. = 1.1.0 = * Added Stats tab with Pro feature notice. * Added Free vs Pro comparison tab in the admin UI. * Added "Upgrade to Pro" submenu link. * Pro features (advanced display modes, relation types, exclusions, minimum word count, Designs 4–6) are now visually locked in the admin UI — clearly shown but not executable in the free version. * Related posts count capped at 3 in the free version. * Ensured no Pro functionality executes in the free version under any circumstances. = 1.0.0 = * Initial release. == Upgrade Notice == = 1.1.1 = No upgrade steps required. Updates "Tested up to" to WordPress 7.0 and improves plugin documentation. Safe to update immediately. = 1.1.0 = No upgrade steps required. Update to enjoy the improved admin UI with Pro feature previews and the Free vs Pro comparison tab. = 1.0.0 = Initial release. No upgrade steps required.