Ad Buttons
by mindnl · Uncategorized
The Ad Buttons plugin displays a number of graphical ads in a sidebar widget.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 53/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
90+
≈91 estimated
Momentum
+17%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “ads”, “adsense” and “advertising” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
53 health vs 58 average across 25,755 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 90 of 59.6K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35, well behind 6.8.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 1 reviews to 2014-04-25The one review here is happy with the plugin and asks for ad placements beyond the single widget spot.
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 3013 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.9.35; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3013 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| ads your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| adsense your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| advertising your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| buttons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| monetizing your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “ads”, “adsense” and “advertising” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 6 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 141 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #16,800 to #17,400, alongside the other plugins at 90+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
8.3y ago
latest release · v3.1 · 2 Aug 2018
45
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 76% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “90+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 33 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 90.
Install history since 27 Sep 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ phpnukes12.5y ago
Pleased would like to extend or duplicate this to other parts of the page. Limited to post ads in one widget placement.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (3.1). Sites still on an older version should update.
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "The Ad Buttons plugin displays a number of graphical ads in a sidebar widget."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,049 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "advertising", "monetizing" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-29 80+ → 90+ up after 29 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 90+ → 80+ down after 24 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 100+ → 90+ down after 913 days in tier
- 2024-02-06 200+ → 100+ down after 498 days in tier
- 2022-09-26 300+ → 200+ down after 567 days in tier
- 2021-03-08 500+ → 300+ down after 474 days in tier
- 2019-11-20 700+ → 500+ down
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
In-Post Ads 500+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D -
Ad Commander – Ad Manager for Banners, AdSense, Ad Networks 200+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A -
Listdom Ads Addon – Display Ads on Listing Pages 60+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags - A Ad Code Manager 40+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
-
AdPageX 30+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags - R Really Simple Ad Injection 30+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Ad Buttons into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/ad-buttons" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Ad Buttons — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Ad Buttons: 90+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/ad-buttons
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