Approval Workflow
by ericjuden · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 8 other plugins · 260+ installs across the portfolio →
Approval Workflow is meant to create a workflow process in WordPress. This plugin adds a box to the post edit screen when a user does not have publish …
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
Not scored
no reviews to score from
Active installs
100+
≈110 estimated
Momentum
+4%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “admin”, “administration” and “approval” 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.
Not scored yet. Nobody has reviewed this plugin, so a grade would come from directory averages rather than from anything measured here.
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.1%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 9.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,190 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 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 5191 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.4.2; the current branch is 6.8
No reviews yet, so wp.org scores it as a middling unrated listing
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 5191 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| administration your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| approval your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| workflow 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
- “admin”, “administration” and “approval” 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 193 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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.
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
14.2y ago
latest release · v1.3.2 · 15 Aug 2012
3
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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 20 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 100.
At the current install trend, crossing 200+ in roughly 302 days.
Install history since 4 Jun 2016
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
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 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Approval Workflow is meant to create a workflow process in WordPress. This plugin adds a box to the post ed..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you need"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Multisite.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 499 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("admin", "administration", "dashboard" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-12 60+ → 100+ up after 25 days in tier
- 2026-09-17 70+ → 60+ down after 8 days in tier
- 2026-09-09 60+ → 70+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2026-09-06 50+ → 60+ up after 28 days in tier
- 2026-08-09 40+ → 50+ up after 69 days in tier
- 2026-06-01 50+ → 40+ down after 13 days in tier
- 2026-05-19 40+ → 50+ up after 46 days in tier
- 2026-04-03 30+ → 40+ up after 214 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).
- W WP Hide Dashboard 2K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
White Label CMS 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Display PHP Version 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D -
Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A - E Error Log Monitor 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Approval Workflow into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/approval-workflow" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Approval Workflow — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Approval Workflow: 100+ active installs, no reviews yet. Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/approval-workflow
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.