Assign Missing Categories
by Stephanie Leary · Uncategorized
Also makes 18 other plugins · 16.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Assigns the default category to all posts that have no category after you've converted your categories to tags.
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 48/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
10+
≈18 estimated
Momentum
-33%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: “categories” isn't earning a slot. You list it, but you're not in the first 24 results for that search. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.2%
of downloads still active
At least 10 of 5.6K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,778 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 11+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.1.42, well behind 7.1.
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 4341 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.1.42; the current branch is 7.1
5.0★ over 8 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.2★ and held back under 25 reviews
1 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4341 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “categories” isn't earning a slot. You list it, but you're not in the first 24 results for that search. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 58 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #30,400 to #44,800, alongside the other plugins at 10+ 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
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
11.9y ago
latest release · v1.2 · 15 Dec 2014
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 “10+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 days ago and the previous band took 2.4 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 20.
Install history since 14 May 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ andrearufo8.2y ago
Simple but effective. Still works on my last version WordPress. It’s not sofisticate and do his job. Obviously you must know what you are doing.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tgiokdi9.5y ago
worked as expected on wordpress network site
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User10.7y ago
Solved my migration issues from FlatPress. No more uncategorised categories! Thank you Stephanie!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nicholaszen10.9y ago
Struggled for days to assign post (custom post type) without categories to a category. Just changed line 61 to my custom post type. But it worked perfectly!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ vaskarjewel11.0y ago
Thanks for this great plugin! Easy to use and powerful.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ thatgrrl11.4y ago
Nothing to really figure out. It works with one click.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kutu6213.4y ago
THANKS!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Player197813.5y ago
worked liked a charm! many many thanks
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you have", "use this").
- ! 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 279 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 1 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-22 20+ → 10+ down after 887 days in tier
- 2024-05-18 30+ → 20+ down after 16 days in tier
- 2024-05-02 20+ → 30+ up after 43 days in tier
- 2024-03-20 30+ → 20+ down after 533 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 40+ → 30+ down after 348 days in tier
- 2021-10-21 100+ → 40+ 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).
-
PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
Media Library Categories 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A -
FV Top Level Categories 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag C - P Post Tags and Categories for Pages 20K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B
-
Hide Categories and Products for Woocommerce 10K+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag B -
List categories 5K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Assign Missing Categories into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/assign-missing-categories" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Assign Missing Categories — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Assign Missing Categories: 10+ active installs, 5.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/assign-missing-categories
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