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Category Shortcode

by robertdrake · Uncategorized

Also makes 1 other plugin · 370+ installs across the portfolio →

Free audit wp.org ↗

Plugin adds shortcode capability for adding posts by category to a page.

⚠ Stale⚠ Likely abandoned⚠ Few reviews
How scoring works →
44 Health · D
Maintenance 3/100
Rating quality 72/100
Support 70/100

44 health vs 56 average across 16,378 Uncategorized plugins

300+

Active installs

≈390 estimated

16.1K

Total downloads

since 2010

3.91★

Rating (adjusted)

4.0★ raw · 2 reviews

+75%

63

Downloads · 30d

category median +16%

High removal-risk signals

63/100

Maintenance 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 15+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
  • Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.0.5, 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.

28 / 100

Under-optimized

Biggest win: Update recency

Update recency 0/100
WP compatibility 1/100
Rating quality 52/100
Listing tuning 68/100

To rank higher: Last updated 5798 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 · 1,425 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+75% vs prior 30d
2Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

63

now · peak 76

6330d downloads · Aug 26

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

Category Shortcode · #11138 you Extra Shortcodes · #6175 Links shortcode · #7354 Shortcodes Ultimate · #145

Rating trend

Star average over time · dips mark rough releases

4Stars · Aug 26

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.

210per 1k installs · Aug 26

Release cadence

No release in a year
from wp.org release tags

How 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

15.9y ago

latest release · v1.3

3

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.3 · 15.9y ago1.2 · 16.5y ago1.1 · 16.5y ago

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

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.

v1.3 100%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
300–400 ≈390

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2015-09-29 · 1,377 observations

300Installs · Aug 26

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

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

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.

Ratings · 2 reviews

Read on wp.org ↗
5★
0 4★
2 3★
0 2★
0 1★
0

Details

Version
1.3
Last updated
15.9y ago
Added
2010-03-03 · 16 yrs old
Requires WP
2.9.0
Tested up to
3.0.5
Requires PHP
—
Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ Jay
    10.9y ago

    Seems to work well and easily. Super easy to get the short code. (through Tools menu) Add some styling to the elements and your done.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ ellisdee
    13.4y ago

    Nice and simple plugin, i want more like that 🙂

    Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

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

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✕ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✕ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

Growth timeline

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

  1. 2025-05-20 400+ → 300+ down after 542 days in tier
  2. 2023-11-25 500+ → 400+ down after 8 days in tier
  3. 2023-11-17 400+ → 500+ up after 1 days in tier
  4. 2023-11-16 500+ → 400+ down after 256 days in tier
  5. 2023-03-05 600+ → 500+ down after 1 days in tier
  6. 2023-03-04 500+ → 600+ up after 2 days in tier
  7. 2023-03-02 600+ → 500+ down after 13 days in tier
  8. 2023-02-17 500+ → 600+ 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).

Compare head to head →

Embed this report card

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

<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/category-shortcode-w-generator" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Category Shortcode — Plugin Pulse"></iframe>
Preview card ↗

Category Shortcode: 300+ active installs, 4.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-30. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/category-shortcode-w-generator