Custom Spinner for Contact Form 7
by Peter Raschendorfer · Forms
Also makes 2 other plugins · 1.3K+ installs across the portfolio →
Customize the spinning Loader Animation of Contact Form 7
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 49/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
900+
≈1K estimated
Momentum
-1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “cf7”, “contact form” and “contact form 7” 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.
49 health vs 65 average across 2,511 Forms plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →5.6%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 15.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Forms plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,668 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
28/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Not actively maintained. No update in about 2 years.
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.
Room to improve
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 929 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.3.14; the current branch is 6.8
4.0★ over 11 reviews, smoothed to 4.08★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 929 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| cf7 your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| contact form your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| contact form 7 your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| custom form your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spinner 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
- “cf7”, “contact form” and “contact form 7” 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 742 · 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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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.
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
2.5y ago
latest release · v2.0.3 · 16 Apr 2024
1
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 84% 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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 32 days ago and the previous band took 6.1 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 1K.
Install history since 5 Sep 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Michael D3.2y ago
This works great. It does what I wanted it to do. I was able to customize the color with some custom coding. Works great. However: I don’t need a message every other time I login to my admin asking me if I like it and will I write a review and will I check out your other plugins. So rather than 5 stars, you get 3. If that’s changed – how many times do I have to click the X to close it and never see it again? – then hey – 5 stars.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ axeap3.4y ago
Good plugin that does the job. Thank you.There’s just one issue that made me think it didn’t work. After activating the plugin, it didn’t initially work for me. You have to go into the settings and actually save which spinner you want first. After doing that it started working. I had to do this with every instance I tested.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ppe293.8y ago
Seems to work on some of my simple CF7 forms but not on some others that are more complicated with conditional logic. If you look at the source code and hover over the code after the submit button, the browser highlights a field where the spinner should be. (I know this b/c this is where it is on the forms that work). This is initially good b/c spinners aren’t supposed to show until after you click submit. But for some reason, it doesn’t show itself when you click submit even though I know it’s there just waiting to show itself.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mbounds5.0y ago
The plugin installed OK and recognised my forms, but it didn’t work at all. Not in the test mode offered from the setup page, or on the live CF7 forms. The only thing I could do was toggle between the different spinner options in the test page. I have no idea if I was doing something wrong because there was no documentation as far as I could see. No troubleshooting guide anywhere, and no answers to similar problems from other users in the forums. This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by mbounds.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sebaherreral6.1y ago
It worked immediately without any issues, cool
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ DRE4MZY6.3y ago
It’s definitely an awesome plugin. Great job, Peter!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous6.4y ago
Need an option to add custom HEX color though… It’s impossible to match provided swatch with the color of my website design (and many of websights I suppose)
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ khalilm7.1y ago
Worked perfectly! Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.5.2
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 3 languages, 0 at 90% or more
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
5 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Customize the spinning Loader Animation of Contact Form 7"
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("use this"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Contact Form 7.
- ✓ Headings and lists 6 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,253 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "custom form" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-30 1K+ → 900+ down after 2238 days in tier
- 2020-08-14 500+ → 1K+ up
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).
-
Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ installs · 4.7★ · 3 shared tags A -
Void Contact Form 7 Widget For Elementor Page Builder 10K+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A -
Contact Form 7 – Success Page Redirects 9K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D - F Forms: 3rd-Party Integration 5K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Popups – Submission Messages For Contact Form 7 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A -
WOW Styler for CF7 – Visual Styler for Contact Form 7 Forms 3K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Custom Spinner for Contact Form 7 into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/cf7-custom-spinner" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Custom Spinner for Contact Form 7 — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Custom Spinner for Contact Form 7: 900+ active installs, 4.0★ (11 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/cf7-custom-spinner
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