Advanced Custom Fields: Widget Area Field
by Dustin Filippini · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 5 other plugins · 530+ installs across the portfolio →
Add-on to Advanced Custom Fields giving you a field to display Widget Areas.
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 46/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
400+
≈450 estimated
Momentum
—
no download trend yet
Biggest opportunity: “acf”, “advanced custom fields” and “custom fields” 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.
46 health vs 56 average across 5,897 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.8%
of downloads still active
At least 400 of 14.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,191 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities 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 12+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.0.38, well behind 6.8.
Details
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 4403 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.0.38; the current branch is 6.8
4.8★ over 5 reviews, smoothed to 4.16★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4403 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| acf your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| advanced custom fields your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| custom fields your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widgets your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches 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
- “acf”, “advanced custom fields” and “custom fields” 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 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 210 · 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.
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 “400+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 22 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Smat Placid10.2y ago
I am using the latest ACF Version 5.4.2 and the latest of WP. It works like a charme! Thank you very much, good job!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Adam11.3y ago
Works well and happy with the results. Can add a widget area using the plugin, allowing for dynamic layouts. It would be great if the plugin could instantiate widgets directly (whether it does it own virtual widget area mapping). This way we can have more control over what the user can instantiate and don’t have to create widget areas for every different instance of content.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ htz7711.9y ago
Fantastic! This fixes one of the biggest problems with using WordPress for client sites.. letting them easily set the widget-area for each page, rather than hardcoding it into templates. I know other plugins add a UI to each Widget, to set which pages/posts it appears on. But it’s more intuitive for clients to select a widget-area while on a page. One suggestion — if the ui were checkboxes (rather than a dropdown), multiple widget-areas could be added to a page, rather than just one. And one step better, would be to enable the checkboxes to be sortable by dragging.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ andiszek12.1y ago
Works as expected and it has been updated for ACF 5/Pro. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ JoshRowland12.3y ago
This plugin is great. There is just a bug or two that needS to be worked out. Mainly, referring to my support ticket here: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/needs-output-buffering
Read on wp.org ↗
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 "Add-on to Advanced Custom Fields giving you a field to display Widget Areas."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Advanced Custom Fields, ACF.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 1 list.
- ! Enough to quote 676 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "widgets" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-11-06 500+ → 400+ down after 324 days in tier
- 2024-12-17 600+ → 500+ down after 17 days in tier
- 2024-11-30 700+ → 600+ down after 24 days in tier
- 2024-11-06 800+ → 700+ down after 327 days in tier
- 2023-12-15 900+ → 800+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-12-14 800+ → 900+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2023-12-11 900+ → 800+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2023-12-09 800+ → 900+ up after 1 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).
- A Advanced Custom Fields: Nav Menu Field 8K+ installs · 4.7★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Ajax Load More for Advanced Custom Fields 2K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B -
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Blocksy Companion 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Advanced Custom Fields: Widget Area Field into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/advanced-custom-fields-widget-area-field" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Advanced Custom Fields: Widget Area Field — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Advanced Custom Fields: Widget Area Field: 400+ active installs, 4.8★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/advanced-custom-fields-widget-area-field
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