Chronological Posts
by Nick Halsey · Uncategorized
Also makes 23 other plugins · 20.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
Chronological posts reverses the default post order throughout your site to be chronological instead of reverse-chronological.
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
A 86/100
no flags
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+18%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “journal”, “newest” and “reverse” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4, #7 and #11 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
86 health vs 58 average across 25,751 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →5.3%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 19K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 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.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 111 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.9★ over 12 reviews, smoothed to 4.25★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
38
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
18%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| chronological your tag | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| reverse post order your tag | #3 | #7 | 0 |
| journal | #4 | #3 | 0 |
| newest | #7 | #10 | up 1 |
| reverse | #11 | #16 | down 3 |
| post order your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
12 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 7 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “journal”, “newest” and “reverse” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4, #7 and #11 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.1K · 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.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 37% 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.
Crossed into this band 4.3 years ago; the previous band took 15 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 28 Dec 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ sanjayrath9mo ago
Does something very simple, very easily – that is to make the posts chronological. This is excellent for any type of study – a book, a series, a course or even programs. This should have been an automatic option in WP. It would be nice to have options to make some categories chono and others non-chrono. Thats another level
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Stig4.6y ago
The plugin was just what I needed. It is perfect for my online course. I use the category for the course title and the posts for the chapters. Thank you. This topic was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by Stig.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jalomedia5.5y ago
This plugin does exactly what I want! Thank you very much!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sysgreg6.8y ago
When reversing posts, the labels Next Post/Prev Post remains the same. It means that in order to chronologically continue reading you have to click Prev Post instead of Next Post. It’s kind of misleading.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kedane867.7y ago
Thank you, I needed this so much! 5 stars!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous7.8y ago
Probably the least painful — as in 0 on a 10 scale — of any plugin I’ve used on WordPress. It works. Boom.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jimmy Lee8.1y ago
This is great, my site is content heavy…related post was failing to show my best stuff…The older post. Thank you for your wonderful plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Opusx8.8y ago
5 Golden Stars from 5 <3
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Displaying only specific post types in chronological order").
- ! 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 519 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "reverse post order" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2022-07-01 2K+ → 1K+ down after 446 days in tier
- 2021-04-11 1K+ → 2K+ up after 219 days in tier
- 2020-09-04 2K+ → 1K+ down after 267 days in tier
- 2019-12-12 1K+ → 2K+ up after 615 days in tier
- 2018-04-06 200+ → 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).
- P Post Order By Category 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags A
-
Selected Categories Post Ordering — installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D -
Post Types Order 600K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag B -
Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP Sort Order 6K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Chronological Posts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/chronological-posts" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Chronological Posts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Chronological Posts: 1K+ active installs, 4.9★ (12 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/chronological-posts
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.