Child Themes
by Chris Taylor · Uncategorized
Also makes 11 other plugins · 430+ installs across the portfolio →
Create a child theme really easily from any installed theme.
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 46/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews · Open vulnerability
Active installs
60+
≈69 estimated
Momentum
+33%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “child”, “create” and “generate” 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.
46 health vs 58 average across 25,734 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.8%
of downloads still active
At least 60 of 7.9K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,767 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.8.34, well behind 6.8.
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 3286 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.8.34; the current branch is 6.8
2.5★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.04★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3286 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| child your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| create your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| generate your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| theme your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| themes 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
- “child”, “create” and “generate” 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 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 161 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #19,100 to #20,000, alongside the other plugins at 60+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
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
9.0y ago
latest release · v1.0.1 · 1 Nov 2017
2
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 “60+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 42 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 70.
Install history since 21 Apr 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Dustin Falgout12.3y ago
The plugin works fine. The only problem is that it copies the entire style.css instead of using @import. If would be the perfect child theme creation tool if it used @import and copied the screenshot automatically.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Matthew12.7y ago
This works great but their is no way to copy css files.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence Intelligence1 open vulnerability affects the current version (1.0.1). 0 of 1 disclosed are patched.
- 2025-08-21 CVE-2025-52755 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.0.1 No patch available
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
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 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Create a child theme really easily from any installed theme."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("who wants"); say who the plugin is for and 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 512 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "generate" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-19 70+ → 60+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2026-09-15 60+ → 70+ up after 6 days in tier
- 2026-09-09 70+ → 60+ down after 138 days in tier
- 2026-04-24 80+ → 70+ down after 153 days in tier
- 2025-11-22 90+ → 80+ down after 198 days in tier
- 2025-05-08 100+ → 90+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2025-05-05 90+ → 100+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-05-02 100+ → 90+ down after 941 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).
- C Child Themify 6K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Child Theme Configurator 300K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags C -
Create Block Theme 20K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Multiple Themes 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags C -
Theme Test Drive 7K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags D -
WP Theme Test 6K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Child Themes into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/child-themes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Child Themes — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Child Themes: 60+ active installs, 2.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/child-themes
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