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How to List Future Upcoming Scheduled Posts in WordPress

Recently, one of our users asked us how they can list scheduled or future upcoming posts in WordPress. Showing upcoming posts can be helpful in getting people to subscribe to your blog. In this article, we will show you how to display future upcoming posts in WordPress sidebar.

Show scheduled and future upcoming posts

What is Scheduled or Future Upcoming Posts in WordPress?

If you have been blogging for a while, then you have probably noticed that publishing posts on a certain time gets more people to read it. If you are new to blogging and don’t know what time you get the most visitors, then you should start using Google Analytics to track this information.

The problem is that you cannot just sit around and wait for that time to hit the publish button. That’s why WordPress comes with built-in scheduling feature. It allows you to schedule your posts to be published later.

Using scheduling you can focus on creating content and managing your editorial calendar like a pro.

Having said that, let’s see how you can show off your upcoming posts in WordPress and use it to get more subscribers.

To make it easy, we have created a video tutorial on how to list future upcoming scheduled posts that you can watch below.

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However if you just want to follow text-instructions, then you can follow our step by step tutorial on how to list future upcoming scheduled posts in WordPress.

Method 1: Showing Scheduled or Future Posts with Plugin

First thing you need to do is install and activate SOUP – Show off Upcoming Posts plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Appearance » Widgets page. There you will find ‘Upcoming Posts’ widget under the list of available widgets. Simply add the widget to your sidebar where you to display scheduled posts.

Upcoming posts widget

The widget settings allow you to choose the number of scheduled posts you want to show. You can also show dates next to them, link to your RSS feed, or link to a page where users can signup for your email list.

Click on the save button to store your widget settings.

You can now visit your website to see the widget in action.

Preview of upcoming posts in sidebar

Method 2: Showing Scheduled or Upcoming Posts Manually

Simply add this code to your theme’s functions.php file or a site-specific plugin.


function wpb_upcoming_posts() { 
	// The query to fetch future posts
	$the_query = new WP_Query(array( 
		'post_status' => 'future',
		'posts_per_page' => 3,
		'orderby' => 'date',
		'order' => 'ASC'
	));

// The loop to display posts
if ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
	echo '<ul>';
	while ( $the_query->have_posts() ) {
		$the_query->the_post();
		$output .= '<li>' . get_the_title() .' ('.  get_the_time('d-M-Y') . ')</li>';
	}
	echo '</ul>';

} else {
	// Show this when no future posts are found
	$output .= '<p>No posts planned yet.</p>';
}

// Reset post data
wp_reset_postdata();

// Return output

return $output; 
} 
// Add shortcode
add_shortcode('upcoming_posts', 'wpb_upcoming_posts'); 
// Enable shortcode execution inside text widgets
add_filter('widget_text', 'do_shortcode');

Now you can visit Appearance » Widgets page. Add a text widget to your sidebar where you want to display upcoming posts and add this shortcode inside the widget.

[upcoming_posts]

Adding upcoming posts shortcode in a text widget

Click on the save button to store your widget settings.

You can now visit your website to see the upcoming scheduled posts in your sidebar. You can also use this shortcode in a post, page, or a template in your child theme.

We hope this article helped you learn how to show scheduled posts in your WordPress sidebar. You may also want to see our list of these 25 most useful WordPress widgets for your site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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Reader Interactions

15 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Hello,
    it was a very useful article! I used to code for a long time because it was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working anymore, and I haven’t found a way to fix it.

    • From testing the code is still working, you would want to use the shortcode block if you are not currently and that should allow the shortcode to work in your widget area again.

      Admin

      • I stand corrected! The code is indeed still working PERFECT. I’ve made a mistake in the way I added it to the functions.php of the theme!

  2. Great function exactly what i need but one thing missing the title is not linked to the post. How do i link the title to the post in this code? Thanks a lot

    • We do not have a recommended method for that as this would show the upcoming posts that are not published yet so there is nothing to send the users to.

      Admin

  3. it is great and exactly what I needed,
    now i am thinking about, making the Post test a link, and on hover can give extra info,
    plus is it possible to add a url behind them (example: register for an upcoming event.)

  4. I have to do couple to leave me in a normal page all future events with their titles, dates and featured images? Thank you.

  5. Thanks for sharing this manual code. I wonder how it could be modified for Custom Post Types? For example for an ‘event’ post type? Is that something you could reveal? (None of the scheduled post plugins work for custom post types.)

    • i think you can do that by adding (‘post_type’ => ‘addcustomposttype’,) this in array im not sure but this one is working in my custom post type btw thank you wpbeginner for the tut :D

  6. I have found a problem in code:

    For exclude sticky posts to add this line to query:

    ‘ignore_sticky_posts’ => 1,

    Useful article :-)

  7. I like to use the Editorial Calendar. It allows you to drag and drop posts from a calendar point of view. Useful for trending topics and seeing gaps in scheduling posts.

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