Custom Wordpress Recent Post

functions.php

<?php
/**
 * Widget API: WP_Widget_Better_Recent_Posts class
 */

/**
 * Register and load the widget.
 *
 * @return void
 */
function wp_better_recent_posts() {
	register_widget( 'WP_Widget_Better_Recent_Posts' );
}
add_action( 'widgets_init', 'wp_better_recent_posts' );

/**
 * Add Better Recent Post Thumbnail to WordPress image sizes.
 *
 * @return void
 */
function wp_better_recent_posts_thumb() {
	add_image_size( 'better-recent-post-thumb', 60, 60, true );
}
add_action( 'after_setup_theme', 'wp_better_recent_posts_thumb' );

/**
 * Core class used to implement a Recent Posts widget.
 *
 * @since 2.8.0
 *
 * @see WP_Widget
 */
class WP_Widget_Better_Recent_Posts extends WP_Widget {
	/**
	 * Sets up a new Better Recent Posts widget instance.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 */
	public function __construct() {
		$widget_ops = array(
			'classname' => 'widget_better_recent_entries',
			'description' => __( 'Your site&#8217;s most recent Posts! BETTER! ' ),
			'customize_selective_refresh' => true,
		);
		parent::__construct( 'improved-recent-posts', __( 'Better Recent Posts' ), $widget_ops );
		$this->alt_option_name = 'widget_better_recent_entries';
	}
	/**
	 * Outputs the content for the current Improved Recent Posts widget instance.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 *
	 * @param array $args     Display arguments including 'before_title', 'after_title',
	 *                        'before_widget', and 'after_widget'.
	 * @param array $instance Settings for the current Recent Posts widget instance.
	 */
	public function widget( $args, $instance ) {
		if ( ! isset( $args['widget_id'] ) ) {
			$args['widget_id'] = $this->id;
		}
		$title = ( ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ) ? $instance['title'] : __( 'Improved Recent Posts' );
		$post_type = ( ! empty( $instance['post_type'] ) ) ? $instance['post_type'] : 'post';
		/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-pages.php */
		$title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base );
		$number = ( ! empty( $instance['number'] ) ) ? absint( $instance['number'] ) : 5;
		if ( ! $number ) {
			$number = 5;
		}
		$show_date = isset( $instance['show_date'] ) ? $instance['show_date'] : false;
		/**
		 * Filters the arguments for the Recent Posts widget.
		 *
		 * @since 3.4.0
		 * @since 4.9.0 Added the `$instance` parameter.
		 *
		 * @see WP_Query::get_posts()
		 *
		 * @param array $args     An array of arguments used to retrieve the recent posts.
		 * @param array $instance Array of settings for the current widget.
		 */
		$recent_posts = new WP_Query( array(
			'posts_per_page'      => $number,
			'post_status'         => 'publish',
			'post_type'           => $post_type,
			'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
		) );
		if ( ! $recent_posts->have_posts() ) {
			return;
		}
		?>
		<?php echo $args['before_widget']; ?>
		<?php
		if ( $title ) {
			echo $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title'];
		}
		?>
		<div class="wp-brp-wrap">
			<?php
				foreach ( $recent_posts->posts as $recent_post ) :
				$recent_posts->the_post();
				$post_title       = get_the_title();
				$post_content     = get_the_content();
				$title            = ( ! empty( $post_title ) ) ? $post_title : __( '(no title)' );
				$featured_img_url = get_the_post_thumbnail_url( get_the_ID(), 'better-recent-post-thumb' );
			?>
				<article class="wp-brp">
					<figure class="wp-brp__image-wrap">
						<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">	
							<img class="wp-brp__image" src="<?php echo $featured_img_url; ?>" alt="<?php echo $post_title; ?>">
						</a>
					</figure>
					<div class="wp-brp__content">
						<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>">
							<h5 class="wp-brp__title"><?php echo $post_title; ?></h5>
						</a>

						<div class="wp-brp__post-content">
							<?php echo truncate_post( 100 ); ?>
						</div>

						<?php if ( $show_date ) : ?>
							<p class="wp-brp__post-date u-text-primary"><strong><?php echo get_the_date( '', $recent_post->ID ); ?></strong></p>
						<?php endif; ?>
					</div>
				</article>
			<?php
				endforeach; 
				wp_reset_postdata();
			?>
		</div>
		<?php
		echo $args['after_widget'];
	}
	/**
	 * Handles updating the settings for the current Recent Posts widget instance.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 *
	 * @param array $new_instance New settings for this instance as input by the user via
	 *                            WP_Widget::form().
	 * @param array $old_instance Old settings for this instance.
	 * @return array Updated settings to save.
	 */
	public function update( $new_instance, $old_instance ) {
		$instance              = $old_instance;
		$instance['title']     = sanitize_text_field( $new_instance['title'] );
		$instance['post_type'] = sanitize_text_field( $new_instance['post_type'] );
		$instance['number']    = (int) $new_instance['number'];
		$instance['show_date'] = isset( $new_instance['show_date'] ) ? (bool) $new_instance['show_date'] : false;
		return $instance;
	}
	/**
	 * Outputs the settings form for the Recent Posts widget.
	 *
	 * @since 2.8.0
	 *
	 * @param array $instance Current settings.
	 */
	public function form( $instance ) {
		$title     = isset( $instance['title'] ) ? esc_attr( $instance['title'] ) : '';
		$number    = isset( $instance['number'] ) ? absint( $instance['number'] ) : 5;
		$show_date = isset( $instance['show_date'] ) ? (bool) $instance['show_date'] : false;
		$post_type = isset( $instance['post_type'] ) ? $instance['post_type'] : 'post';
		?>

		<p><label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>"><?php _e( 'Title:' ); ?></label>
		<input class="widefat" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'title' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'title' ); ?>" type="text" value="<?php echo $title; ?>" /></p>

		<p><label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'post_type' ); ?>"><?php _e( 'Post Type:' ); ?></label>
		<input class="widefat" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'post_type' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'post_type' ); ?>" type="text"value="<?php echo $post_type; ?>" /></p>

		<p><label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'number' ); ?>"><?php _e( 'Number of posts to show:' ); ?></label>
		<input class="tiny-text" id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'number' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'number' ); ?>" type="number" step="1" min="1" value="<?php echo $number; ?>" size="3" /></p>

		<p><input class="checkbox" type="checkbox"<?php checked( $show_date ); ?> id="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'show_date' ); ?>" name="<?php echo $this->get_field_name( 'show_date' ); ?>" />
		<label for="<?php echo $this->get_field_id( 'show_date' ); ?>"><?php _e( 'Display post date?' ); ?></label></p>

		<?php
	}
	/**
	 * Truncate a string provided by the maximum limit.
	 * @param string $str
	 * @param integer $maxlen
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function limit_string( $string, $limit = 100, $end = '&hellip;' ) {
		if ( mb_strwidth( $string, 'UTF-8' ) <= $limit ) {
			return $string;
		}
		return rtrim( mb_strimwidth( $string, 0, $limit, '', 'UTF-8' ) ) . $end;
	}
}