Advanced Category Excluder
by DjZoNe · Content & Feeds
Also makes 5 other plugins · 2.7K+ installs across the portfolio →
The No.1 content separator, content manager, content excluder, sidebar widget manager plugin to enable CMS like functionality.
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 41/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
600+
≈670 estimated
Momentum
+57%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “categories” for “excluder”. “categories” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “excluder” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
41 health vs 64 average across 1,195 Content & Feeds plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 600 of 302.9K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Content & Feeds plugin keeps 0.8%, across 864 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Content & Feeds 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
71/100Maintenance 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 13+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1, well behind 6.8.
- Negative reviews. Recent reviews are running negative.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 12 reviews to 2018-06-19Reviewers who just want to hide a category say it works, but several report PHP errors from deprecated functions and say support requests go unanswered.
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 4792 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.6.1; the current branch is 6.8
3.3★ over 16 reviews, smoothed to 3.91★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4792 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| excluder | #12 | #10 | 0 |
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| feed your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| post your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| rss your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| search your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “categories” for “excluder”. “categories” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “excluder” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 422 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
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
13.1y ago
latest release · v1.4.5 · 18 Sep 2013
22
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% 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 “600+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 71% of the way through.
Install history since 6 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ sipo8.4y ago
Works great!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gresakg9.8y ago
This plugin should be updated ASAP. Basically it does the job, but unfortunately it contains deprecated php functions that do not work on php 7 and produce warnings on php 5.4 and above. The development team is unresponsive so I guess the plugin is abandoned.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Yui10.4y ago
$cats = split(',',get_option("ace_categories_norobots")); Error thrown Call to undefined function split() split() can be replaced with explode() I see a support topic 4 month old with same issue, but unresponsive
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Manas Mitra11.1y ago
In my site, I have a Blog page which shows all the posts categorized as Blog. I have another page which shows only the posts which are categorized as Premium. Also I can select posts having Premium category only from a side bar specific to this page. I have used Content Aware Sidebar and Posts To Pages plugin to achieve this result. The Blog page side bar has Search, Recent Post & archive option, Recent Post is showing only posts with Blog category but the rest two (Search & Archives) are showing all the above categories (Blog & Premium). I need only the posts from Blog category to be accessed through this side bar. Is it possible to do this? Can anyone guide me up how to tackle this problem? From my description, it may seem a bit complicated, but this is the only way I found working for me.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Stieks11.3y ago
I am doing a travel agency’s website and I only wanted a few posts showing on the home page. I activated the plugin, selected the categories I didn’t want to see…and like magic they were gone. Thank you for a fantastic problemsolver!!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ zzmonty11.4y ago
On the front page, when I exclude a category, it excludes it both on the main content and in the sidebar. I wanted a category excluded from the main content, but not the sidebar. I tried all of the settings related to the main page, and nothing worked. This is true even for a widget that is just a specific category. Also, the plugin does not seem to be currently supported, and I could not find a way to submit a bug. I am trying to use the plugin on a website for cat adoptions. When a cat is adopted, the cat’s category is changed from “available for adoption” to “adopted”. We want to display the adopted cat’s in a widget on the side (small pictures), but not on the main flow of the home page (large pictures). Except for this one scenario, the plugin works as described. And once you understand how to use it, it is easy to use. The website is http://scarletpawsanimalwelfare.org
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ KingSky11.4y ago
I’m using a slider plugin that uses posts you select as the slides. I don’t want these showing up in the main blog page. I created their own category ‘sliders’ and then in this plugin I just selected that category to hide globally. Poof, gone! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aklievvel11.8y ago
Exactly what I was looking for
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 84 languages, 0 at 90% or more
Plus 60 more locales with partial translations.
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
6 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "The No.1 content separator, content manager, content excluder, sidebar widget manager plugin to enable CMS..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 6 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 6 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you want", "great for").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,309 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-07-19 700+ → 600+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-07-18 600+ → 700+ up after 8 days in tier
- 2026-07-10 700+ → 600+ down after 180 days in tier
- 2026-01-11 800+ → 700+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-10 700+ → 800+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-01-08 800+ → 700+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-07 700+ → 800+ up after 36 days in tier
- 2025-12-02 800+ → 700+ down after 208 days in tier
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).
-
GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
RSS for Yandex Turbo 20K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
RSS Includes Pages 10K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags A -
Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Search and Replace 9K+ installs · 3.4★ · 2 shared tags B - F FeedWordPress 8K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Advanced Category Excluder into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/advanced-category-excluder" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Advanced Category Excluder — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Advanced Category Excluder: 600+ active installs, 3.3★ (16 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/advanced-category-excluder
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