BuddyPress Automatic Friends
by Steven Word · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 3 other plugins · 210+ installs across the portfolio →
Automatically create and accept friendships for specified users upon new user registration. * Requires BuddyPress
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
200+
≈250 estimated
Momentum
-30%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “admin”, “automatic” and “buddypress” 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 56 average across 5,897 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 27.3K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with 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.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 4+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.9.20.
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 1743 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.9.20; the current branch is 6.8
4.2★ over 5 reviews, smoothed to 4.11★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1743 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 | ||
| automatic your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| buddypress your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| friends your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| instant friends your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 1 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
- “admin”, “automatic” and “buddypress” 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 161 · 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 1 Nov 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
4.8y ago
latest release · v2.0.8 · 23 Jan 2022
8
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 10 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 10 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ marbs4.7y ago
I have an advanced BP social media site and this plugin is a keeper. Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ stasonkiev6.4y ago
Hello thanks for the plugin, it is really useful. With the recent updates your plugin started to call error, can you please fix it?: get_user_meta( $user_id, 'last_activity' ) was called incorrectly. User last_activity data is no longer stored in usermeta. Use bp_get_user_last_activity() instead. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 2.0.0.)
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User 734315611.5y ago
This plugin has several problems: When you remove a user from having automatic friends, all their friend connections will disappear, even those which have not been generated by the plugin. That means that the friend count will go to zero. Also, this plugin allows ANY user to have automatic friends, even subscribers. That promotes SPAM. The developer does not revise the support forum, and his few responses are usually unhelpful.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bowoolley12.9y ago
The plugin works perfectly. I do have a feature request for an upcoming update: allowing users to become automatic friends within selected Buddypress groups. It would help a TON with controlling privacy issues. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Blogurp13.9y ago
Works with BuddyPress Multisite
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 137 languages, 4 at 90% or more
Plus 113 more locales with partial translations.
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 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Automatically create and accept friendships for specified users upon new user registration. * Requires Budd..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Coming Soon").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions BuddyPress.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 113 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "admin", "instant friends" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-01-19 300+ → 200+ down after 161 days in tier
- 2025-08-11 200+ → 300+ up after 24 days in tier
- 2025-07-18 300+ → 200+ down after 10 days in tier
- 2025-07-08 200+ → 300+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2025-07-04 300+ → 200+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-07-02 200+ → 300+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-06-30 300+ → 200+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-29 200+ → 300+ 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).
-
Registration Options for BuddyPress 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D - I Invite Anyone 1K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags C
-
WP Updates Settings 800+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D -
Loginizer 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Redux Framework 900K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for BuddyPress Automatic Friends into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/bp-automatic-friends" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="BuddyPress Automatic Friends — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> BuddyPress Automatic Friends: 200+ active installs, 4.2★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/bp-automatic-friends
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