Contact Form 7 Syntax Highlighting
by Joris van Montfort · Forms
Also makes 5 other plugins · 4.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Adds syntax higlighting to the Contact Form 7 admin screens. Requires the Contact Form 7 plugin.
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 47/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.4K estimated
Momentum
+25%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “contact form 7”, “contact form 7 form editor” and “contact form 7 html editor” 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.
47 health vs 65 average across 2,512 Forms plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →12%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 8.5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Forms plugin keeps 1.3%, across 1,671 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Forms 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 6+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.4.25.
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 2357 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.4.25; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2357 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| contact form 7 your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| contact form 7 form editor your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| contact form 7 html editor your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| form textarea your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| html editor your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “contact form 7”, “contact form 7 form editor” and “contact form 7 html editor” 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 269 · peaks are release surges
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
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
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.
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 “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Modeled within the band wp.org reports; tightens as we track daily.
Install history since 14 Nov 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Amr Ali3.0y ago
Thank you
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bmcconach6.1y ago
With all of the amazing syntax highlighting features that are in a great deal of plugins, it always underwhelmed me when I got to my CF7 editor and was greeted with a plain text editor. I figured there was no hope for it until I decided to Google-foo my way to a solution; that solution is the plugin you’re looking at. Stop searching, this is all you’ll need! Many, many kudos to the developer!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Patrice6.5y ago
It is a good plugin, it does what it says and help us to read our code.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ xsonic9.4y ago
Simply works. Thanks a lot! This topic was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by xsonic.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jensnilsson9.9y ago
Works as expected.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User 1070826710.6y ago
I like this plugin a lot! Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗
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
2 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 "Adds syntax higlighting to the Contact Form 7 admin screens. Requires the Contact Form 7 plugin."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Contact Form 7.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 181 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("contact form 7 form editor", "contact form 7 html editor", "form textarea", "html-editor" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
No tier crossings observed yet.
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).
-
HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B -
Database Addon for Contact Form 7 – CFDB7 600K+ installs · 5.0★ · 1 shared tag A -
Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
ReCaptcha v2 for Contact Form 7 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Contact Form 7 Syntax Highlighting into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/cf7-ace-syntax-highlighting" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Contact Form 7 Syntax Highlighting — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Contact Form 7 Syntax Highlighting: 1K+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/cf7-ace-syntax-highlighting
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