Byline
by mattdu · Uncategorized
Solves the co/multi-author problem without modifying the theme. Uses a custom taxonomy, "Byline," that replaces the Display Author.
47 health vs 56 average across 16,375 Uncategorized plugins
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 13+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.5.2, well behind 6.8.
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
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 4921 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,427 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
58
now · peak 165
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
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
13.5y ago
latest release · v0.25
2
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.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2022-10-04 · 1,382 observations
Estimated value
What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.
Est. annual revenue
Est. acquisition value
No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.
Details
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Adebowale Adekoya7.5y ago
The Byline plugin is simple and suitable for multi-author WordPress sites.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ televizor11.8y ago
Nice work
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dsolimini12.4y ago
After spending too many hours trying to implement a complicated competitor plugin, I found this gem. It does exactly as claimed, does it straightforwardly and elegantly, and does not require PHP knowledge. \ In addition: I had a question, posted it to the support forum, and had a working resolution in less than an hour.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Dan Knauss12.5y ago
If you have a lot of contributing authors whose posts you want to be able to credit and list in archives, but you don’t need or can’t afford the time it takes to to create separate user accounts for them all, then you need this plugin. It will also handle the problem posed by multiple authors/co-authors. By separating bylines from the author/user who created/owns the post, this is the first simple solution to a longstanding problem for multi-author WordPress sites. You simply add any number of author names to a “Bylines” taxonomy (like tags), and they will be automatically linked to their own taxonomy archive page whose description can be used for a short author bio, and the Taxonomy Images plugin can be used to assign them photos. Byline is much simpler than implementing Co-Authors Plus, which is often more solution than you need and still requires creating user accounts for authors if you want to link bylines to author pages. The main comparable alternative to Byline is Custom Author Bylines. Unfortunately Custom Author Bylines is buggy, harder to implement in some themes, and unsupported.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aendrew12.7y ago
This solves the multiple author problem in a fashion that totally makes sense for newspapers. You usually have production staff — who aren’t the authors — assigning multiple authors to stories. I’ve felt this has been a huge gap in WordPress’s ability to serve mid- to large- periodicals. This plugin solves it in the most elegant way — an author taxonomy that is used to replace the built-in author display line. Not only does this remove the default WordPress thing where it displays as posted by the editor or admin user posting the content, but it also opens the way for creating rich author pages in the future — just add some taxonomy templates to your theme and you’re on your way. Seriously, I was considering writing this EXACT plugin, until I stumbled across this. Well done, sir. As a long-time journo-developer and WordPress user, I salute you.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-11-30 300+ → 200+ down after 589 days in tier
- 2023-04-21 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-04-20 300+ → 400+ up after 15 days in tier
- 2023-04-05 400+ → 300+ 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).
-
Extend Co-Authors Plus for FacetWP 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 4 shared tags D -
Co-Authors Plus 20K+ installs · 3.5★ · 3 shared tags B - S SP Authors 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
ThemeRuby Multi Authors – Assign Multiple Writers to Posts 2K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B - A Authors Widget 1K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Byline into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/byline" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Byline — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Byline: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/byline