Shortcode in Menus vs Widgets in Menu for WordPress

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

Shortcode in Menus

by Gagan Deep Singh

Health B80

Widgets in Menu for WordPress

by Saurabh

Health D49

Active-install trajectory

Shortcode in MenusWidgets in Menu for WordPress

Active installs, each indexed to 100 at the start of the window. A line above 100 is growing its install base, below 100 is shrinking.

Metric	Shortcode in Menus	Widgets in Menu for WordPress
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	50K–60K ✓	7K–8K
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	0% ✓	-22%
Overall health	B · 80 ✓	D · 49
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	76/100 ✓	3/100
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	91/100 ✓	87/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (weighted for review count)	4.6★ ✓	4.4★
Reviews	82 ✓	21
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	88/100 ✓	40/100
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	Low ✓	High
Last updated	9mo ago ✓	8.4y ago
Downloads · 30d	1.8K ✓	623
Install conversion Active installs over lifetime downloads. Downloads include every update, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower.	9.8% ✓	6.4%
Category	Uncategorized	Uncategorized

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

Release activity

Shortcode in MenusWidgets in Menu for WordPress

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.