bbPress – Private Replies
by Pippin Williamson · Uncategorized
Also makes 20 other plugins · 760+ installs across the portfolio →
A simple plugin to allow your bbPress users to mark their replies as private.
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 49/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
200+
≈280 estimated
Momentum
+10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “bbpress” for “pippin williamson”. “bbpress” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “pippin williamson” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
49 health vs 58 average across 25,751 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.6%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 31K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 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 10+ 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 3670 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
4.9★ over 12 reviews, smoothed to 4.25★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3670 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.
46
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 18d
33%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 18d
+0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| pippin williamson | #8 | #6 | up 1 |
| mordauk your tag | #13 | #9 | 0 |
| bbpress your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| forums your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| private replies your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| replies your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
3 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 2 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “bbpress” for “pippin williamson”. “bbpress” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “pippin williamson” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “mordauk”. #13 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 215 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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
10.1y ago
latest release · v1.3.3 · 14 Oct 2016
16
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and the previous band took 13 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 300.
Install history since 1 Apr 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ kiwioa3.1y ago
hope for update since few of security scanner always warn of this abandon plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ MCD Diseño Web8.1y ago
Hello, first of all my congratulations to developer and its excellent plugin collaborators, since bbpress does not have this functionality as standard, it is very good if you want to create a support forum.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ xtender1119.6y ago
Really cool, but how about adding the following: 1. The ability to make a reply hidden to everyone, except a specific list of users (possibly always including the topic starter). 2. A setting which allows these replies to be hidden entirely. Currently it just creates a block which says “private message” or somesuch. (I am using bbPress for roleplaying games and this would make it easily possible to having multiple threads/activities going in one topic) Finally, thanks for great plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Type Historian10.8y ago
This is an important feature for bbPress—I agree that it should be part of the basic package! This topic was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by Type Historian.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Yudhistira Mauris11.8y ago
Great plugin for support forum. Works as expected. Thank you for the plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ wenetwork11.9y ago
Perfect, should be core…admin should have the option to tag a message as private.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Rene Hermenau12.1y ago
Exactely what i was looking for:-) Thanks guys!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ master41216012.4y ago
I love it.
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
3 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 "A simple plugin to allow your bbPress users to mark their replies as private."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions bbPress.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 630 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "forums", "mordauk" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-09 300+ → 200+ down after 377 days in tier
- 2025-07-28 400+ → 300+ down after 372 days in tier
- 2024-07-21 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-07-20 400+ → 500+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2024-07-11 500+ → 400+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2024-07-07 400+ → 500+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-07-06 500+ → 400+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2024-07-02 400+ → 500+ 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).
- B bbPress Custom Reply Notifications 70+ installs · 3.8★ · 4 shared tags D
- B bbPress – Notices 40+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
- B bbPress – Mark as Read 30+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
- B bbPress – Canned Replies 20+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D
- B bbPress – Admin Notes 10+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Newest replies first in bbPress 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for bbPress – Private Replies into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/bbpress-private-replies" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="bbPress – Private Replies — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> bbPress – Private Replies: 200+ active installs, 4.9★ (12 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/bbpress-private-replies
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