Clean unused shortcodes
by Amr Abdelkarem · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 3 other plugins · 300+ installs across the portfolio →
Scan your site for orphaned shortcodes and remove them safely from post content and excerpts.
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
B 84/100
Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈320 estimated
Momentum
+17%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “admin”, “shortcode” and “tools” for “unused”, “clean admin” and “orphaned”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “unused” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “shortcode” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “clean admin” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “tools” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “orphaned” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
84 health vs 56 average across 5,895 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.5%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,188 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 2 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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 16 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.4★ over 7 reviews, smoothed to 4.14★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 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.
40
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
25%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| unused | #5 | #13 | up 1 |
| clean your tag | #8 | #18 | up 2 |
| unused content | #3 | #10 | 0 |
| clean ui | #4 | #16 | up 1 |
| remove shortcodes | #4 | #10 | — |
| shortcodes | #23 | #20 | down 2 |
| clean admin | #14 | #19 | 0 |
| orphaned | #24 | #19 | 0 |
| unused plugins | #12 | #19 | down 2 |
| remove shortcode | #12 | #19 | — |
| clean up | #13 | #18 | down 3 |
| clean wordpress | #15 | #22 | down 1 |
| admin clean theme | #18 | #22 | 0 |
| orphaned content | #22 | #19 | 0 |
| shortcode inside shortcode | #23 | #20 | 0 |
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| shortcode your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| tools your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| ui your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
32 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 15 listed. 17 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “admin”, “shortcode” and “tools” for “unused”, “clean admin” and “orphaned”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “unused” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “shortcode” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “clean admin” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “tools” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “orphaned” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 6 Oct 2022 · 1,486 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 414 · 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 21 Oct 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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
2
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v2.1.0 · 21 May 2026
6
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 66% 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 3 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 300.
At the current install trend, crossing 400+ in roughly 144 days.
Install history since 5 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ icreation10mo ago
I had some old code from Bakery Builder, and it was all over my site. This plugin got rid of it in seconds. Well done. This topic was modified 6 months, 1 week ago by icreation.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Ally Drez1.3y ago
Installed, Activated, Ran “Clean up unused shortcodes” and voila. The site had no more shortcode residue from Divi theme. THANK YOU!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ transit541.4y ago
I imported posts from a client site which previously used Divi, so they were littered with Divi shortcodes. I tried a few Divi shortcode cleaner plugins while they removed some of the shortcodes, there were will many remaining. This plugin worked quickly to remove all of remaining ones – I’d highly recommend it for this purpose (just remember to backup your database before you attempt anything like this!).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ yumigo1.5y ago
Does what it says. After migrating a 200 pages/posts site from a wpbakery page builder to another framework, I had plenty of all [vcrow] etc. This plugin cleaned my contents in seconds. Underrated plugin, thank you so much ! Saves a lot of time and efforts
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gordonium1.5y ago
Simple plugin that worked quickly and did exactly what we needed. Will use again!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ freelancesgroup1.5y ago
It is installed and with a single click it cleans the entire shortcode.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ pagrob3.8y ago
after starting the scan you only see a white screen, you just have to wait for the process to finish to see the relative message and then don’t remove any short code become to [spotifyplaybutton play=”… This topic was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by pagrob. This topic was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by pagrob. This topic was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by pagrob.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
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
7 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 "Scan your site for orphaned shortcodes and remove them safely from post content and excerpts."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("who want"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,527 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-13 200+ → 300+ up after 132 days in tier
- 2026-04-03 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-02 200+ → 100+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-01 100+ → 200+ up after 166 days in tier
- 2025-10-17 90+ → 100+ up after 18 days in tier
- 2025-09-29 80+ → 90+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-09-27 90+ → 80+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2025-09-20 80+ → 90+ up after 23 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).
-
Radio Buttons for Taxonomies 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags C -
WPS Bidouille 9K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A - C Category Checklist Tree 5K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Hostinger Tools 3M+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag B -
Loginizer 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Redux Framework 900K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Clean unused shortcodes into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/clean-unused-shortcodes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Clean unused shortcodes — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Clean unused shortcodes: 300+ active installs, 4.4★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/clean-unused-shortcodes
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