Byline

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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.

1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

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.

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share 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.

Crossed into this band 23 months ago; the previous band took 20 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ Adebowale Adekoya

   7.7y ago

   The Byline plugin is simple and suitable for multi-author WordPress sites.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ televizor

   12.0y ago

   Nice work

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ dsolimini

   12.6y 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 ↗
4. ★★★★★ Dan Knauss

   12.7y 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 ↗
5. ★★★★★ aendrew

   12.9y 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 ↗

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4

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.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2024-11-30 300+ → 200+ down after 589 days in tier
2. 2023-04-21 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
3. 2023-04-20 300+ → 400+ up after 15 days in tier
4. 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).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Byline into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Byline: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/byline