Category Template Hierarchy vs Custom Category Templates

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

Category Template Hierarchy and Custom Category Templates are close on health (D · 46 vs D · 45), with nothing separating them on the sub-scores.

Category Template Hierarchy

by Eddie Moya

Health D46

Custom Category Templates

by shazdeh

Health D45

Active-install trajectory

No change to chart. WordPress.org reports active installs in coarse bands, so neither plugin crossed a band during this window. The download trend below moves daily and is the better read over a period this short.

Metric	Category Template Hierarchy	Custom Category Templates
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	100–200	3K–4K ✓
Active installs, change over ~6 months Compares the public install bands. One band step shows as the band change, not a percentage.	Stable	Stable
Overall health	D · 46 ✓	D · 45
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	3/100	3/100
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	78/100 ✓	76/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (weighted for review count)	4.1★ ✓	4.0★
Reviews	3	6 ✓
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	36/100	38/100 ✓
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	High	High
Last updated	14.6y ago	10.7y ago ✓
Downloads, last 30d	89	390 ✓
Download momentum, last 30d vs prior 30d Dips that follow a release spike are normal: wp.org counts every update as a download, so the weeks after a release run lower.	-14%	+34%
Install conversion Active installs over lifetime downloads. Downloads include every update, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower.	0.5%	4.8% ✓
Category	Uncategorized	Uncategorized

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

Category Template HierarchyCustom Category Templates

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.