Blank Footnotes
by Corrado Franco · Uncategorized
Simple plugin to show footnotes using markdown notation.
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
A 86/100
Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈350 estimated
Momentum
+73%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “notes” for “line break”. “notes” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “line break” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
86 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.2%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 9.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,766 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.
This plugin shipped 4 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 48 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
17%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| endnotes your tag | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| blank | #4 | #11 | down 2 |
| footnote your tag | #4 | #6 | 0 |
| footnotes your tag | #4 | #6 | 0 |
| wp footnotes | #5 | #9 | up 1 |
| reference your tag | #15 | #22 | down 4 |
| line break | #23 | #20 | up 1 |
| notes your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
14 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 7 listed. 7 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “notes” for “line break”. “notes” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “line break” sits at #23 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 “reference”. #15 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 638 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ 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.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
4
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v1.8 · 13 Sep 2026
16
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 20 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 26 May 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Matta Cib6mo ago
Blank Footnotes is a brilliant footnote plugin! Admittedly, it doesn’t have a hover (on-mouse-over) function – neither browser-based nor plugin-based – nor does it offer automatic numbering.BUT: Doing without such features is rewarded with a plugin that is straightforward, lightweight, offers little scope for attack and therefore does not need to be constantly updated, meaning it is likely to remain usable in the long term. It is uncomplicated to use and can be easily adapted to your own design preferences using CSS. It has the advantage that footnotes do not need to be integrated into the text, but are entered at the end of the text, where they are ultimately meant to be, which I find much clearer. And (probably most importantly) it has a plugin developer who, should any issues arise, provides friendly, quick and highly competent support. I recently had to update 1641 footnotes when switching from my old footnote plugin to Blank Footnotes, and it worked brilliantly – highly recommended! Blank Footnotes deserves every success.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Elizabeth Beeton1.2y ago
This is the highest compliment I can give anything I use. This is much better than the footnote plugin I was using. VERY pleased. I noticed this plugin doesn’t have many reviews, so I logged in to give it one.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ arbeitscodex.com3.7y ago
Ich verwende „Blank Footnotes“ in meinen Beiträgen. Mit dem Plugin ist es sehr einfach Quellen bzw. Literaturverzeichnis zu erstellen. ich hoffe Corrado Franco entwickelt es weiter und in Gutenberg-Editor wird einfache Funktion ergänzt für die automatische Erzeugung von Verzeichnis. Auch Anpassung von Einstellungen werde ich sehr begrüßen.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ThemeBro7.3y ago
I was looking for a simple solution that doesn’t add extra scripts to my site. This is it. Auto-numbering would be a good improvement.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Elisa10.4y ago
Perfect for a minimal footnote option, which has a custom place. Thank you very much!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Codyjt10.7y ago
This plug-in works great and looks fine. A perfectly minimal footnotes option. I will use it liberally.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 1 at 90% or more
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
6 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 "Simple plugin to show footnotes using markdown notation."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you want"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg, Jetpack.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,333 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "endnotes", "reference" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-03-23 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-03-22 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-03-21 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-03-20 300+ → 400+ up after 12 days in tier
- 2025-03-08 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-03-07 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-03-05 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-03-04 300+ → 400+ up after 3 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).
-
CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography 100+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B - E Endnotes 100+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Footnotes & Content 100+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A -
Better Footnotes 20+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D -
Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A - F FD Footnotes Plugin 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Blank Footnotes into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/blank-footnotes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Blank Footnotes — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Blank Footnotes: 300+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/blank-footnotes
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