AJAX Comment Loading
by Mark Jaquith · Performance
Also makes 28 other plugins · 165K+ installs across the portfolio →
Loads comments with a secondary AJAX request, including comment paging. Speeds initial loading of the page.
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 43/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
20+
≈20 estimated
Momentum
-29%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “ajax”, “comments” and “performance” 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.
43 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 20 of 9.4K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,103 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance 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 14+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.4.2, 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 5227 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.4.2; the current branch is 6.8
3.0★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.04★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 5227 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ajax your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| performance your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “ajax”, “comments” and “performance” 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 81 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #25,300 to #28,300, alongside the other plugins at 20+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
14.3y ago
latest release · v1.0 · 9 Jul 2012
1
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 “20+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 20.
Install history since 18 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ sirlantis12.0y ago
If you have some weird issues using JetPack you have to fix the line: $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous12.9y ago
That’s it. Also its fixed version at “Tips and Tricks HQ” does not work. The reason of this result must be a lack of explanation I think. “Upload or get plugin and activate” is not a good instruction. Such thing is already known even for children.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ LekovicMilos13.6y ago
When you activate it, comments stop showing, it just says “Loading comments…”
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3.2
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
2 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Loads comments with a secondary AJAX request, including comment paging. Speeds initial loading of the page."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! 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 645 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 3 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-28 10+ → 20+ up after 16 days in tier
- 2026-10-12 20+ → 10+ down after 42 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 10+ → 20+ up after 24 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 20+ → 10+ down after 21 days in tier
- 2026-07-17 10+ → 20+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-07-10 20+ → 10+ down after 13 days in tier
- 2026-06-27 10+ → 20+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-06-20 20+ → 10+ down after 20 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).
-
Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
Lazy Load for Comments 2K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A -
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Disable Comments 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for AJAX Comment Loading into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/ajax-comment-loading" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="AJAX Comment Loading — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> AJAX Comment Loading: 20+ active installs, 3.0★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/ajax-comment-loading
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