Title: Herodotus &#8211; On This Day
Author: WP Gang
Published: <strong>28 Aprile 2026</strong>
Last modified: 28 Aprile 2026

---

Ricerca i plugin

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# Herodotus – On This Day

 Di [WP Gang](https://profiles.wordpress.org/merkucio/)

[Scarica](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/herodotus.1.0.0.zip)

 * [Dettagli](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/#description)
 * [Recensioni](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/#reviews)
 *  [Installazione](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/#installation)
 * [Sviluppo](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/#developers)

 [Supporto](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/herodotus/)

## Descrizione

**Herodotus** is a specialized tool for creating recurring historical events based
on Day and Month, making it perfect for “This Day in History”, birthdays, anniversaries,
or any annual recurring timeline.

Unlike the default WordPress behavior where posts are tied to a specific publication
year, Herodotus introduces its own **`herodotus_post`** Custom Post Type. You simply
pick a day and a month from the custom date picker in the block editor, and your
post will automatically appear on that exact day _every single year_.

**Key Features:**

 * **Dedicated Custom Post Type** — keeps your regular blog posts completely separate
   from historical events.
 * **Custom Taxonomy** — group historical events into categories like “Science”,“
   Politics”, “Birthdays”, etc.
 * **Annual Recursion** — just set “May 15” and the post appears every May 15, forever.
 * **Two Layouts** — standard list layout for pages, compact layout ideal for sidebars
   and widgets.
 * **Shortcode & Gutenberg Block** — use `[herodotus]` or the included block to 
   display events anywhere.
 * **Year Support** — set the year of the event for display purposes.
 * **Year Badge** — the historical year is displayed as a badge on each event card,
   so visitors immediately see when the event occurred.
 * **Category Filtering** — display posts from a specific category using `[herodotus
   category="history"]`.
 * **Category Labels** — category is displayed on each event card and on the single
   event page.
 * **Hide Images** — show posts as text-only using `[herodotus show_image="false"]`.
 * **Open Graph & Twitter Card** — automatic meta tags for beautiful social media
   sharing previews.
 * **Schema.org Markup** — JSON-LD structured data (Article, Event, CollectionPage)
   for better SEO and Google rich results. Automatically disabled if Yoast SEO, 
   RankMath, AIOSEO or The SEO Framework is active.
 * **Timezone Aware** — strictly respects your WordPress timezone settings.
 * **WPML & Polylang Ready** — includes `wpml-config.xml` for full multilingual 
   compatibility.
 * **Translation Ready** — includes translations for Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian,
   French, German, Spanish, Italian and Turkish.
 * **Caching** — built-in transient caching for fast frontend performance.
 * **Sortable Admin Columns** — the posts list in the admin shows “Herodotus Date”
   and “Year” columns, both clickable to sort your events by date or year.

**Available Shortcode Attributes:**

 * `[herodotus]` — show today’s posts using global settings.
 * `[herodotus layout="compact"]` — compact view, ideal for sidebars.
 * `[herodotus limit="5"]` — limit to first 5 posts.
 * `[herodotus category="history"]` — show posts from a specific category (use slug).
 * `[herodotus excerpt_words="15"]` — set custom excerpt length.
 * `[herodotus show_image="false"]` — hide images, show only title, excerpt and 
   Read more.
 * `[herodotus order="DESC"]` — reverse sort order for this instance (overrides 
   the global setting).

## Screenshot

 * [[
 * Frontend list layout with featured images and compact widget in the sidebar –
   showing today’s historical events.
 * [[
 * Frontend list layout with images hidden (`show_image="false"`) and compact widget
   in the sidebar.
 * [[
 * Category archive page – displays today’s posts filtered by a specific Herodotus
   category.
 * [[
 * Post editor – the Herodotus Date metabox for setting day, month and year of the
   historical event.
 * [[
 * Plugin settings page – configure posts limit, sort order, excerpt length and 
   default image.
 * [[
 * Plugin settings page – Shortcodes Library – Ready-to-use Shortcodes.

## Blocchi

Questo plugin fornisce 1 blocco.

 *   Herodotus – On This Day Display Herodotus posts by recurring day, month and
   year. Shows featured image (1:1), title, excerpt, and date.

## Installazione

 1. Upload the entire `herodotus` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
 2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** menu in WordPress.
 3. A new **Herodotus – On This Day** menu item will appear in your WordPress admin
    sidebar.
 4. Go to **Herodotus  Add New** and create your first historical event.
 5. In the editor, use the **Herodotus Date** metabox (right sidebar) to set the day,
    month and year.
 6. Place the shortcode `[herodotus]` or the **Herodotus Events** Gutenberg block on
    any page or widget area.

## FAQ

### What is Herodotus for?

Herodotus is designed for creating “On This Day in History” sections on your website.
You create posts tied to a specific day and month, and they automatically appear
every year on that date. It is ideal for history blogs, music, art & educational
sites, museum websites, anniversary trackers, and birthday calendars.

### Does this plugin modify my existing posts or pages?

No. Herodotus uses its own dedicated Custom Post Type (`herodotus_post`). Your standard
WordPress Posts, Pages, and any other content remain completely untouched.

### How is this different from regular WordPress posts?

Regular WordPress posts are tied to the date they were published and appear in chronological
order. Herodotus posts are tied to a recurring day and month — they have no “publication
date” in the traditional sense and will appear automatically every year on the same
day.

### Does it support leap years (February 29th)?

Yes. You can set February 29th as the date. On non-leap years, this post will not
be shown, which is the correct and expected behavior.

### How do I display today’s events on my site?

Use the shortcode `[herodotus]` in any post, page or text widget. Alternatively,
use the included **Herodotus Events** Gutenberg block which you can find in the 
block inserter.

### Can I show events from a specific category only?

Yes. Use the `category` attribute with the category slug: `[herodotus category="
science"]`. You can create and manage categories under **Herodotus  Categories**.

### What is the compact layout and when should I use it?

The compact layout (`[herodotus layout="compact"]`) shows posts with a small square
thumbnail, title and a short excerpt — without the category label or Read more button.
It is designed specifically for sidebar widgets where space is limited.

### Can I hide images and show only text?

Yes. Use `[herodotus show_image="false"]` to hide all images including the default
placeholder. Posts will show only the title, excerpt and — on full pages — the Read
more link.

### What happens if a post has no featured image?

By default, a placeholder “No Image” graphic is shown. You can replace this placeholder
with any image of your choice by going to **Settings  Herodotus** and uploading 
a custom Default Image.

### Can I use multiple shortcodes on the same page?

Yes. Each shortcode instance is independent and can have its own layout, category,
limit and other settings.

### How does caching work?

Herodotus uses WordPress transients to cache query results. The default cache lifetime
is 3600 seconds (1 hour). You can adjust this under **Settings  Herodotus  Cache
Settings**, or set it to 0 to disable caching entirely. The cache is automatically
cleared whenever a Herodotus post is saved or deleted.

### Is the plugin compatible with WPML and Polylang?

Yes. The plugin includes a `wpml-config.xml` file which automatically configures
WPML to handle the custom post type, taxonomy and date meta fields correctly. Polylang
works automatically as well since the CPT and taxonomy are registered with standard
WordPress hooks. The cache key includes the current locale so different language
versions are cached separately.

### Is the plugin translation ready?

Yes. The plugin is fully internationalized. Translations are included for: Georgian(
ka_GE), Russian (ru_RU), Ukrainian (uk), French (fr_FR), German (de_DE), Spanish(
es_ES), Italian (it_IT) and Turkish (tr_TR). Additional translations can be contributed
via the WordPress.org translation system (GlotPress).

### I see a red warning in the post editor — what does it mean?

The red warning appears when a Herodotus post does not have a day, month or year
set. All three fields are required — posts without a complete date will never appear
on the frontend. Simply click the date field in the Herodotus Date metabox (right
sidebar) to set the date.

### I see a warning icon (⚠) in the posts list — what does it mean?

The ⚠ icon in the Herodotus Date or Year column means that post is missing date 
information and will not be shown on the frontend until the date is set.

### Can I sort events within the same date?

Yes. Under **Settings  Herodotus  General Settings** you can choose between A  Z(
alphabetical) and Z  A (reverse alphabetical) sorting. Events are always grouped
by date first, then sorted by your chosen order.

### What data does the plugin store and what happens when I uninstall it?

The plugin stores Herodotus posts (as a custom post type), categories (as a custom
taxonomy), plugin settings (in `wp_options`) and temporary cache (as transients).
By default, all data is kept when the plugin is uninstalled. If you want all data
to be permanently deleted on uninstall, enable the **Remove Data on Uninstall** 
option under **Settings  Herodotus  Advanced**.

### Does the plugin add Open Graph or Schema.org markup?

Yes. Herodotus automatically adds Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags on single
event pages and category archive pages, enabling rich previews when sharing links
on Facebook, Twitter/X, Telegram and other platforms. It also outputs JSON-LD Schema.
org structured data (`Article`, `Event`, `CollectionPage`) to help search engines
understand your content. If Yoast SEO, RankMath, AIOSEO or The SEO Framework is 
active, Herodotus automatically skips its own tags to avoid duplicates.

### Is the plugin compatible with page builders (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder)?

The shortcode `[herodotus]` works in any environment that supports standard WordPress
shortcodes, including Elementor text/shortcode widgets, Divi Code modules and Beaver
Builder HTML modules.

### Does the plugin work with caching plugins (WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache)?

Yes. Herodotus has its own internal caching layer. It works alongside page-level
caching plugins without conflict. Note that if you use aggressive full-page caching,
the displayed date may be cached at the page level — consider excluding the pages
with `[herodotus]` from full-page caching, or using a shorter cache TTL.

## Recensioni

![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/37661da3cdcf040563728da14c394230943b5adc70e0196849b2eb94fb4b0b7a?
s=60&d=retro&r=g)

### 󠀁[Great plugin](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/great-plugin-41482/)󠁿

 [kordi](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kordi/) 11 Maggio 2026 1 risposta

Excellent plugin – nothing extra, just the perfect tool for a specific task

 [ Leggi la recensione di 1 ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/herodotus/reviews/)

## Contributi e sviluppo

“Herodotus – On This Day” è un software open source. Le persone che hanno contribuito
allo sviluppo di questo plugin sono indicate di seguito.

Collaboratori

 *   [ WP Gang ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/merkucio/)

“Herodotus – On This Day” è stato tradotto in 1 lingua. Grazie a [chi traduce](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/herodotus/contributors)
per il contributo.

[Traduci “Herodotus – On This Day” nella tua lingua.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/herodotus)

### Ti interessa lo sviluppo?

[Esplora il codice](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/herodotus/) segui
il [repository SVN](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/herodotus/), segui il [log delle modifiche](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/herodotus/)
tramite [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/herodotus/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.0.0

 * Initial public release.
 * Dedicated Custom Post Type (`herodotus_post`) and Custom Taxonomy (`herodotus_category`).
 * Shortcode `[herodotus]` with attributes: `layout`, `limit`, `category`, `excerpt_words`,`
   show_image`.
 * Two layouts: `list` (standard page layout) and `compact` (sidebar/widget layout).
 * Gutenberg block support.
 * Custom date metabox with day, month and year fields.
 * Red warning in metabox and ⚠ icon in posts list for posts missing date.
 * Built-in transient caching with configurable lifetime.
 * WPML compatibility via `wpml-config.xml`.
 * Polylang compatibility — cache key includes locale.
 * Plugin settings page: posts limit, sort order, excerpt length, default image,
   cache TTL, uninstall behavior.
 * Translation ready — includes translations for: French, German, Spanish, Italian,
   Turkish, Georgian, Ukrainian, Russian.

## Meta

 *  Versione **1.0.0**
 *  Ultimo aggiornamento **2 settimane fa**
 *  Installazioni attive **Meno di 10**
 *  Versione WordPress ** 5.6 o superiore **
 *  Testato fino alla versione **6.9.4**
 *  Versione PHP ** 7.4 o superiore **
 *  Lingue
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/) e [Russian](https://ru.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/).
 *  [Traduci nella tua lingua](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/herodotus)
 * Tag
 * [dates](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/dates/)[events](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/events/)
   [history](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/history/)[recurring](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/recurring/)
   [this day in history](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/this-day-in-history/)
 *  [Visualizzazione avanzata](https://it.wordpress.org/plugins/herodotus/advanced/)

## Valutazioni

 5 su 5 stelle.

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## Collaboratori

 *   [ WP Gang ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/merkucio/)

## Supporto

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