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How Popular, Related and Recently Updated Articles Work

Last updated July 1, 2026 Reading time: 10 minutes

How Popular, Related and Recently Updated Articles Work

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base can automatically display useful article lists across your knowledge base.

These sections help visitors find more information without having to return to the main page or search again.

The available sections include:

  • Popular Articles
  • Related Articles
  • Recently Updated Articles
  • Recommended Articles

Each section chooses articles in a slightly different way.

The Popular Articles section shows the knowledge base articles that have received the most recorded views.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base keeps an anonymous view total for each article when article view tracking is enabled.

Articles with higher view totals can then appear near the top of the Popular Articles list.

This section is useful for highlighting guides that visitors regularly use, such as installation, activation or troubleshooting instructions.

How article views are counted

A view is recorded when a normal visitor opens a published knowledge base article.

Views may not be counted when you are signed in with permission to edit the article.

This prevents your own work, previews and repeated editing checks from affecting the public popularity totals.

For a more realistic test, open the article while signed out of WordPress or use a private browser window.

A new knowledge base will not have enough article view information immediately.

Until genuine views begin to build, SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base may use recently updated articles as temporary fallback content.

This prevents the Popular Articles section from appearing empty when the website has only just been set up.

As more visitors read your articles, the section can begin using the recorded view totals instead.

Popular Articles will not normally change after only one or two test visits.

Possible reasons include:

  • You were signed in as an editor
  • Article view tracking is disabled
  • The website cache has not refreshed
  • Other articles already have higher totals
  • The knowledge base is still using fallback content
  • The article is unlisted
  • The licence is inactive

Allow time for normal visitor traffic to build before judging the final order.

Recently Updated Articles

The Recently Updated section shows articles based on the date they were last modified in WordPress.

When you edit and update a published article, WordPress records a new modified date.

That article may then move higher in the Recently Updated list.

This is useful for showing visitors that your documentation is being reviewed and maintained.

Publication date vs modified date

Recently Updated Articles use the modified date rather than the original publication date.

For example, an article published six months ago but updated today may appear above an article that was published last week and has not changed since.

This makes the section useful for highlighting older guides that have recently been improved.

What counts as an update?

Selecting Update on a published article changes its modified date.

This can happen after you:

  • Correct instructions
  • Replace screenshots
  • Add a new section
  • Update menu or button names
  • Improve the article excerpt
  • Fix broken links
  • Add information about a new feature

Only update an article when something has genuinely changed or the guide has been properly reviewed.

Avoid making meaningless edits simply to move an article higher in the list.

Related Articles help visitors find other guides covering a similar subject.

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base mainly uses the categories assigned to an article when choosing related content.

For example, an article in the Licence and Subscription category may show other articles covering:

  • Product keys
  • Licence activation
  • Monthly and Yearly plans
  • Inactive licences
  • Licence errors

The current article itself is left out of the list.

Why categories matter

Related Articles work best when your categories contain closely connected guides.

For example, a focused category called Licence and Subscription is likely to produce more useful results than a broad category called General.

To improve the related content:

  • Give each article a clear main category
  • Avoid assigning every article to several categories
  • Create child categories when a subject becomes too broad
  • Keep unrelated topics separate
  • Use clear article titles

Good organisation improves both navigation and recommendations.

If the current category contains very little content, the Related Articles section may have fewer links to display.

The exact result depends on the number of suitable published articles available.

Publishing several focused guides in each main category gives the plugin more useful content to choose from.

Recommended Articles normally appear near the end of an article.

The plugin first looks for another suitable article from the same category.

If it cannot find one, it may use a recently updated article instead.

This gives visitors a useful next step even when the current category only contains a small amount of content.

These sections serve slightly different purposes.

Related Articles usually display a small list of guides connected to the same subject.

They may appear in a sidebar or article section.

Recommended Articles usually highlight one guide as the next article the visitor may want to read.

They commonly appear near the bottom of the article.

Both features rely on well-organised content, but the recommended section has a fallback option when no suitable same-category guide is available.

Recently Updated Articles show what has changed most recently.

Popular Articles show what visitors have read most often.

An article can appear in both sections if it has recently been updated and also receives a large number of views.

This is not necessarily a problem, although too much repeated content can make the page feel less useful.

Avoid showing the same sections everywhere

SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base gives you control over where article lists appear.

You do not need to show Popular, Related and Recently Updated Articles in every available position.

For example, you could use:

Knowledge base homepage

  • Popular Articles
  • Recently Updated Articles

Article sidebar

  • Related Articles
  • Table of contents

Bottom of an article

  • Recommended Article

This gives each part of the page a different purpose.

Enable or disable article sections

To change which sections appear:

  1. Sign in to your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Open Knowledge Base > Settings.
  3. Check the Homepage, Articles and Features tabs.
  4. Enable or disable the article sections you want to use.
  5. Change the section headings if required.
  6. Select Save Changes.

Open the homepage, an article and a category page afterwards to check the result.

Change the section headings

You can adjust the headings shown above these article lists.

Examples include:

  • Popular Articles
  • Most Read Guides
  • Frequently Viewed
  • Popular Help Articles

Recently Updated Articles

  • Recently Updated
  • Latest Documentation Updates
  • Recently Reviewed
  • Updated Guides
  • Related Articles
  • More on This Topic
  • You May Also Find Useful
  • More Help and Guides
  • Recommended Reading
  • Read Next
  • You May Also Like
  • Continue Reading

Choose wording that is clear and matches the rest of your knowledge base.

Which articles can appear?

The plugin normally chooses from published knowledge base articles.

Articles may be left out when they are:

  • Drafts
  • In the Trash
  • Marked as unlisted
  • Not publicly available
  • The same article currently being viewed
  • Blocked because the licence is inactive

Make sure useful articles are published and properly categorised.

Unlisted articles

Unlisted articles do not normally appear in:

  • Popular Articles
  • Related Articles
  • Recently Updated Articles
  • Recommended Articles

This allows you to keep an article available through a direct URL without promoting it elsewhere in the knowledge base.

If an expected article is missing, check whether the unlisted option has been enabled.

If the related links do not feel useful, review the category structure first.

For example, a category containing installation, billing, design and analytics articles is probably too broad.

You could divide it into:

  • Getting Started
  • Licence and Subscription
  • Customisation
  • Analytics

The more focused the categories are, the more relevant the Related Articles are likely to be.

Recommended Articles also benefit from focused categories.

You can improve the results by:

  • Publishing more than one article in each category
  • Using clear article titles
  • Keeping outdated articles updated
  • Removing irrelevant category assignments
  • Separating broad categories into smaller subjects

If a category only contains the current article, the plugin may need to use a recently updated article from elsewhere.

Popular Articles are based on genuine visitor behaviour, so the order cannot be set manually through the article editor.

You can still make important articles easier to discover by:

  • Linking to them from other guides
  • Adding them to suitable categories
  • Using clear article titles
  • Adding useful excerpts
  • Including them in popular searches
  • Keeping the content accurate
  • Making sure search can find them

Over time, useful articles are more likely to build higher view totals.

Article view tracking and privacy

Article view totals are designed to record the number of times an article is viewed rather than create individual visitor profiles.

The plugin does not need to store a visitor’s name or email address to update the article total.

You can control article view tracking through the SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base privacy settings.

Review your website privacy policy so it reflects the features you have enabled.

If the section is empty, check that:

  • Published articles exist
  • Popular Articles is enabled
  • Article view tracking is enabled
  • Your SoftwareRoad Knowledge Base licence is active
  • Articles are not marked as unlisted
  • The website cache has been cleared

A new knowledge base may temporarily use recently updated content until article views have been recorded.

The order is based on the saved view totals.

Your expected article may not be first because:

  • Another article has more views
  • Your own signed-in visits were not counted
  • Cached content is being displayed
  • View tracking was enabled recently
  • The article was previously unlisted

Open Knowledge Base > Analytics > Article Views to check the stored totals.

Recently Updated Articles show an old guide

An older article can appear in Recently Updated if it was edited recently.

Check the modified date shown in the WordPress article list or editor.

The section does not use the original publication date.

If the public order appears out of date, clear the website cache.

Check that:

  • Related Articles is enabled
  • Other published articles exist
  • The current article has a category
  • Other articles use the same category
  • The articles are not unlisted
  • The current layout includes the section
  • The licence is active

A category containing only one published article cannot provide another same-category article.

The same article appears in several sections

An article may be popular, recently updated and related to the current guide at the same time.

If the page feels repetitive, disable one of the sections or move it to a different part of the layout.

For example, keep Popular Articles on the homepage and Related Articles on individual article pages.

Changes are not appearing

After changing the article section settings:

  1. Select Save Changes.
  2. Clear the WordPress cache.
  3. Clear any hosting or server cache.
  4. Clear your browser cache.
  5. Open the page in a private browser window.
  6. Check the correct homepage, article or category page.

Article lists can be heavily affected by caching because their order changes over time.

Article section checklist

Before finishing, check that:

  • Popular Articles contain useful content
  • Article view tracking matches your privacy choices
  • Recently Updated Articles reflect genuine changes
  • Related Articles match the current subject
  • Recommended Articles offer a useful next step
  • Articles are assigned to focused categories
  • Unlisted content is not appearing
  • The same links are not repeated too often
  • The sections work on desktop and mobile
  • The headings match the tone of your knowledge base

Popular, related and recently updated articles are now set up to help visitors continue browsing your documentation.

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