WP Custom Author URL vs Meks Smart Author Widget

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

WP Custom Author URL

by Poodle Plugins

Health B84

Meks Smart Author Widget

by Meks

Health D54

Active-install trajectory

WP Custom Author URL Meks Smart Author Widget

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	WP Custom Author URL	Meks Smart Author Widget
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	5K–6K	10K–20K ✓
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	0%	0%
Overall health	B · 84 ✓	D · 54
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	93/100 ✓	23/100
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	84/100 ✓	79/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (adjusted)	4.34★ ✓	4.14★
Reviews	8	8
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	91/100 ✓	58/100
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	Low ✓	Elevated
Last updated	5mo ago ✓	2.1y ago
Downloads · 30d	317	803 ✓
Category	Login & Users	Login & Users

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

Release activity

WP Custom Author URL Meks Smart Author Widget

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.