Featured Category Widget
by tepelstreel · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 9 other plugins · 2.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
The Featured Category Widget is basically a Featured Post Widget for a category.
45 health vs 54 average across 3,793 Admin & Utilities 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 10+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.5.33, 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 3839 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 · 1,426 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
69
now · peak 92
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
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
10.5y ago
latest release · v2.5
22
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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2015-04-19 · 1,388 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 ↗- ★★★★★ Saeed Speed11.2y ago
Really Amazing , Perfectly , and all inposible words, i try much and much plugins for my purpose but there was no answer , AND THIS ONE YES! Thanks A lot MANS
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nigeljagger11.5y ago
…because it’s not working with pagination (wpPageNavi).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ brybott12.5y ago
After running into issues with other similar plugins, I was hopeful about this one. Unfortunately, it seems you can only determine which pages it appears on from within the widget settings. It doesn’t seem to care if it is in a sidebar and a page’s template calls that sidebar. It only cares if the plugins page types are selected. If I’m missing something, I’d be happy to be corrected.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cscottb13.3y ago
I am just getting started with this plugin but it show good potential for placing featured categories on a magazine style page.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ maisonet13.8y ago
Love this widget. It is the perfect solution to show the posts that I want to display and it’s content. It is easy to customize, if necessary. I like that the thumbnails for the posts show as desire. Thanks for a great plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 53 languages, 1 at 90% or more
Plus 29 more locales with partial translations.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-06-10 200+ → 100+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-09 100+ → 200+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-06-06 200+ → 100+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-05 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-04 200+ → 100+ down after 507 days in tier
- 2024-01-14 300+ → 200+ down after 349 days in tier
- 2023-01-30 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-01-29 300+ → 400+ up after 2 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).
-
List Custom Taxonomy Widget 9K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A - R Recent Posts by Category Widget 4K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
- N NS Category Widget 1K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags B
- L LJ Multi Column Archive 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Image Widget 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Featured Category Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/category-feature" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Featured Category Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Featured Category Widget: 100+ active installs, 4.2★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/category-feature