Better RSS Widget 3.0.0 is a major update to a plugin that has shown RSS feeds in WordPress sidebars and shortcodes for years. The classic widget and the better-rss shortcode still work, and widgets you already saved keep their settings. The headline addition is two native Elementor widgets, RSS List and RSS Grid, each with the feed options for that layout and Style controls for the feed, the items, and the text around them.
Everything in this release lives under 3.0.0: the Plugin Check cleanup, the two Elementor widgets, donations through the plugin page, and a settings screen with real space around the fields. There is no separate version number for the builder.
1. RSS List and RSS Grid for Elementor
Version 3.0.0 adds two widgets in the Better RSS Widget category. RSS List stacks items. RSS Grid lays the same feed out as cards. You set the feed URL, item count, excerpt, author, date, time, link target, and cache on both. Inside Elementor, the automatic copy of the old WordPress widget is hidden, so the feed you place on the page is the one you can style.
- RSS List stacks items. The image can sit above, to the left, or to the right
- RSS Grid places the image above the text in columns, with one image height and object fit
- The heading can be custom text, the feed title, or the feed description
- Date, time, and author sit together as a stacked list or one inline line
- The item title, excerpt, and meta can each have a background color, and those areas can grow or shrink
- The classic widget and the
better-rssshortcode stay available for sidebars and post content
2. Plugin Check, escaping, and PHP 8 translations
The second change area is the codebase. The plugin header, readme, and license now match current WordPress.org expectations: GPL-2.0-or-later, Requires PHP 7.4, and Tested up to 7.1. Settings save through the Settings API, and front-end output is escaped.
A few long-standing display bugs came out of that pass. The feed icon link target is written as a real attribute. The default excerpt ending renders as an ellipsis instead of a double-encoded character. Intro text can contain normal post HTML again, while the shortcode list stays limited to a safe set of tags. Bundled translations load on PHP 8. The old translation call passed an extra argument that stopped the plugin from loading on current PHP.
- Settings are sanitized when you save them
- Widget, shortcode, and feed-icon output is escaped
- Spanish, Italian, German, and French translations load on PHP 8
- The widget id, the
better-rssshortcode, and the saved option name are unchanged
3. A settings screen with real padding
Settings → Better RSS Widget still sets the defaults for new widgets. Labels, checkboxes, and the side panels no longer sit against the box edges. Defaults live in one card. Plugin information, usage, credits, and the donate link live in cards beside it, and those cards stack when the window is narrow.
The donate link opens the Better RSS Widget plugin page, where donations are handled by Stripe.
Who should update to 3.0.0
Update if you already use Better RSS Widget on a current version of WordPress or on PHP 8. Existing widgets, the shortcode, and saved defaults carry over. Update if you build in Elementor and want the feed as a list or a grid, styled with the rest of the page. The plugin still does not replace the built-in RSS widget. After you activate it, add a Better RSS Widget or replace an existing RSS widget.
In short: Better RSS Widget 3.0.0 keeps the sidebar widget and shortcode, adds Elementor RSS List and RSS Grid widgets you can style, and brings the plugin in line with current WordPress.org and PHP 8 expectations.
Read more on the Better RSS Widget page, download it from the WordPress Plugin Repository, or browse the plugin catalog.