CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography
by CreativeMindsSolutions · Uncategorized
Also makes 18 other plugins · 19.8K+ installs across the portfolio →
Add and manage footnotes, citations, and bibliography with this footnotes Plugin. Improve clarity and provide references.
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 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈150 estimated
Momentum
-23%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “reference” for “footnote”. “reference” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “footnote” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
83 health vs 58 average across 25,755 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.6%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 17.6K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with 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.
This plugin shipped 3 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 19 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.2★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.11★ 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.
33
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
5%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| bibliography your tag | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| citations your tag | #4 | #7 | 0 |
| endnotes your tag | #4 | #6 | down 1 |
| citation | #3 | #6 | 0 |
| footnotes your tag | #6 | #13 | 0 |
| footnote | #6 | #13 | 0 |
| credibility | #12 | #18 | down 1 |
| micropayments | #7 | #9 | 0 |
| micropayment | #8 | #9 | down 1 |
| wp footnotes | #6 | #16 | up 1 |
| definitions | #24 | #22 | down 2 |
| definition | #24 | #22 | — |
| glossary | #24 | #21 | — |
| dictionary | #24 | #20 | down 2 |
| reference your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
24 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 14 listed. 10 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
- Swap “reference” for “footnote”. “reference” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “footnote” sits at #6 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 595 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
3
releases in the last 12 months
19d ago
latest release · v2.2.4 · 13 Oct 2026
7
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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 18 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 16 Oct 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ robertreddin4.0y ago
Updated: I have the free version of CM Footnotes. I created three blog posts, each with its own footnotes. I was dismayed to find that the footnotes for the latest post had also been applied to the previous articles. That should not have happened. Support for the free verion through the forum was quick, excellent and resulted in a bug being diagnosed, fixed and a new release is being rolled out. This plugin now does what it says on the side of the tin, and I am very happy with it. I am also very pleased with the support I received. I will upgrade to the pro version when the roll-out of the new release has been completed. This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by robertreddin. This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by robertreddin. This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by robertreddin. This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by robertreddin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mcfitzsatx7.3y ago
I’m using this on a volunteer site that includes the text of a book with lots of footnotes. Works great and is relatively easy to use. Looks very professional on the site.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ragots8.1y ago
I installed this plugin and it worked out of the box even if when I click on the little number of a footnote, the page sends me to the anchor but too far below the place where the footnotes are on the page. So you’re looking everywhere trying to see the footnotes, but they are a bit higher, and you have to schroll back up a little. That’s a bit weird, but I’m guessing you cannot fix that (unless you buy Pro and contact support). Plus, I thought it was sneaky to put this little promo link that says “Powered by CreativeMinds WordPress Plugin CM Footnotes” below the footnotes, which encourages you to buy the Pro version if you want that removed. I thought that was really nasty, and made me not buy the Pro version and prompted me to give it a 4 stars instead of 5. Post scriptum: I actually tried to remove a star after I gave it 4 stars, but the system would not let me do that. This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by ragots. This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by ragots. This topic was modified 7 years, 10 months ago by ragots.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Arthur10.4y ago
Just wrote a long explanation about why but lost connectivity. Sorry, don’t have time to repeat, basically I wanted to cite the source of a statistic (0.70) and didn’t work. Use Tooltips for definitions, not footnotes.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Michael Junker10.7y ago
I installed this plugin and had an issue with it, the problem was solved within hours and I’m now upgrading to the pro version for the extra features. Excellent plugins with outstanding service.. Thanks guys..
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Vova Feldman11.4y ago
I got the CM Footnotes Pro version of the plugin after comparing several other plugins. It has several advantages like ability to display an index of all footnotes on site and also ability to use footnote on several posts across the site. Highly recommended if you need such support for your articles and posts
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 1 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 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Add and manage footnotes, citations, and bibliography with this footnotes Plugin. Improve clarity and provi..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and 1 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 6 headings and 3 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,908 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "endnotes" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-05-15 200+ → 100+ down after 34 days in tier
- 2025-04-11 100+ → 200+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-04-10 200+ → 100+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2025-04-04 100+ → 200+ up after 27 days in tier
- 2025-03-08 200+ → 100+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2025-03-02 100+ → 200+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-02-28 200+ → 100+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2025-02-23 100+ → 200+ up after 4 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).
-
Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ installs · 4.4★ · 4 shared tags A -
Blank Footnotes 300+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags A - E Endnotes 100+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Modern Footnotes 6K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A - F FD Footnotes Plugin 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D
- S Simple Footnotes 600+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/cm-footnotes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography: 100+ active installs, 4.2★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/cm-footnotes
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.