Great news. A possible workaround regarding the posts number with tags excluded: just use a higher number.
I think it's also a question of tag choice. If we always use #steemit tag for "internal" posts, it would be enough to filter them out. But of course things could get more complicated with time.
RE: UPDATE: Steemit Feed for WordPress v.1.0.3 - Reward sum fix + other small changes - POLL: Vote for new features