Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII
by bgermann · Security
Also makes 2 other plugins · 3.3K+ installs across the portfolio →
Beginning with version 14.9.1 cformsII has pluggable captcha support. This plugin makes use of that by providing an implementation for the Really Simp …
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Health
D 48/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈350 estimated
Momentum
+18%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “captcha” for “pluggable”. “captcha” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “pluggable” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
48 health vs 66 average across 1,776 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.4%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 12.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,061 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security 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 932 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.5.14; the current branch is 6.8
3.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.06★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 932 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.
30
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.7
Velocity
places per keyword, 8d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 8d
-0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| cforms2 your tag | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| really simple captcha | #16 | #24 | down 1 |
| pluggable | #13 | #24 | down 1 |
| captcha your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| protection your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| verification your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
3 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “captcha” for “pluggable”. “captcha” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “pluggable” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 284 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ 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 1 Nov 2026.
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
2.6y ago
latest release · v1.4 · 13 Apr 2024
8
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 57% 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 “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 9 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 23 Aug 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Michael D8.1y ago
This works just fine. I’m not sure why the 1 star review. Installed. Then installed the plug-in that it utilizes. Choose ‘really simple captcha’ from ‘type’ in the fieldset dropdowns for your forms in form settings. Options are minimal but effective. If you can code stuff, then you can go into the file cforms2_really_simple_captcha.php and edit line 139 and rename the label from CAPTCHA to, say, ‘Please Enter the info…’ Ultimately I rearranged them like this so they flowed better. It’s not super neat but it works. $req = '<label for="'.$input_id.'" class="secq"><span>Please enter the letters from the CAPTCHA window:</span></label>' . '<input type="text" style="margin-top:-10px; margin-right:5px; margin-bottom:4px; height:27px; width:100px;" name="'.$this->get_id().'" id="'.$input_id.'" ' . 'class="'.$input_classes.'" title="'.$input_title.'"/>' . '<img class="cforms2_really_simple_captcha_img" style="padding-top:5px; background:#565656" alt="CAPTCHA" src="'.$info['url'].'" />' . '<span class="dashicons dashicons-update captcha-reset"></span>' . '<input type="hidden" name="'.$this->get_id().'/hint" value="' . $info['hint'] . '"/>'; This topic was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by Michael D.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ savcorp9.8y ago
В форме cforms2 просто нет выбора графическая капча
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
1 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Beginning with version 14.9.1 cformsII has pluggable captcha support. This plugin makes use of that by prov..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 162 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("cforms2", "protection", "spam", "verification" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-01-26 400+ → 300+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2026-01-23 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-22 400+ → 300+ down after 372 days in tier
- 2025-01-15 500+ → 400+ down after 287 days in tier
- 2024-04-03 600+ → 500+ down after 277 days in tier
- 2023-07-01 700+ → 600+ down after 11 days in tier
- 2023-06-20 600+ → 700+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2023-06-19 700+ → 600+ down after 731 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).
-
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Email Address Encoder 100K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B -
Gravity Forms Zero Spam 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Image CAPTCHA for Contact Form 7 and WPForms by HookAndHook (DSGVO/GDPR) 70K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/cforms2-really-simple-captcha" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Really Simple CAPTCHA for cformsII: 300+ active installs, 3.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/cforms2-really-simple-captcha
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