Author Spotlight (Widget)
by Debashish · Login & Users
Also makes 2 other plugins · 610+ installs across the portfolio →
A Sidebar widget to display the Author(s) profile on any Page or Post along with Social web links.
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 45/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈150 estimated
Momentum
+52%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “author”, “author bio” and “author profile” 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.
45 health vs 61 average across 2,203 Login & Users plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.3%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 30.2K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Login & Users plugin keeps 0.7%, across 1,476 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Login & Users 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 9+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39, 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 3553 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
4.5★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3553 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.
33
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 10d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 10d
0.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| author your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| author bio your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| author profile your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| authors your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| profile your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
6 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 6 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “author”, “author bio” and “author profile” 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 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 105 · 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
9.7y ago
latest release · v3.4 · 7 Feb 2017
10
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 85% 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 23 months ago; the previous band took 15 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 26 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ brewhk10.7y ago
We needed it only for its most basic features, and it works out-of-the-box
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Noumaan Yaqoob12.0y ago
Tested this plugin with 4.0 and it works great. However, the plugin needs an update to add latest icons for google+ and other services. Also the CSS needs to be adjusted to add little space between social icons. It would be nice to have an option to choose avatar size inside the widget. Thanks.
Read on wp.org ↗
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
5 of 8 pass · checked 25 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "A Sidebar widget to display the Author(s) profile on any Page or Post along with Social web links."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 10 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 7 of 10 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 Facebook, Twitter.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 950 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "author bio" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-12-01 200+ → 100+ down after 445 days in tier
- 2023-09-13 300+ → 200+ down after 291 days in tier
- 2022-11-26 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2022-11-25 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2022-11-24 400+ → 300+ down after 188 days in tier
- 2022-05-20 500+ → 400+ down after 370 days in tier
- 2021-05-15 600+ → 500+ down after 286 days in tier
- 2020-08-02 800+ → 600+ down after 322 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 Author Bio 10+ installs · 3.9★ · 4 shared tags D
- A Author Bio Widget 50+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
-
Simple Author Box 90K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Meks Smart Author Widget 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
Starbox – the Author Box for Humans 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags C
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Author Spotlight (Widget) into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/author-profile" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Author Spotlight (Widget) — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Author Spotlight (Widget): 100+ active installs, 4.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/author-profile
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