Colorful Categories
by Artem P. · Admin & Utilities
New Categories widget in the awesome style! Bring colours to your categories widget - make every category in its colour.
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 74/100
Stale
Active installs
2K+
≈2.5K estimated
Momentum
+25%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “categories widget” to your wp.org tags. You rank #24 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed it's a slot worth spending.
74 health vs 56 average across 5,897 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.0%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 66.1K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,190 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.
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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 397 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
4.7★ over 13 reviews, smoothed to 4.22★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 397 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.
40
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.2
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
21%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| colorful | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| colourful categories your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| coloured your tag | #3 | #2 | up 2 |
| categories widget | #24 | #20 | 0 |
| exclude categories widget | #22 | #23 | 0 |
| widget empty categories | #24 | #23 | down 2 |
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
16 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 6 listed. 10 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “categories widget” to your wp.org tags. You rank #24 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed it's a slot worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.5K · 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.
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
1.1y ago
latest release · v2.0.21 · 30 Sep 2025
32
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 “2K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2.5 years 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 3 May 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Reiniepress2.9y ago
The default embedding works great with widgets. Can also be used directly in code to color categories from list of posts for example.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ GCF3.0y ago
It work nice on themes which support widgets. is there any change to use this functionality as a gutenberg block for those who use 2023 and 2024 themes? This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by GCF. This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by GCF.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ YAT4.3y ago
This plugin is helper my works. Japanese people is often color for tag and category because we are a culture of color. This topic was modified 4 years ago by YAT.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sven Lennartz4.5y ago
I really don’t need it but it adds value and color to my site. Easy to use and customizable. Very well done. Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cockie7.8y ago
gefällt mir sehr gut
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ loesline7.8y ago
Very helpful and simple plugin! Thank you developer.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ imbeauty9.2y ago
I love this widget. It works perfectly.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ amigaselivrosviajantes9.6y ago
I loved this plugin. It works perfectly. Super recommend it.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.0.21 Tested up to WordPress 6.8. 2.0.21
- — Version 2.0.20 Tested up to WordPress 6.6. 2.0.20
- — Version 2.0.19 Tested up to WordPress 6.4. 2.0.19
- — Version 2.0.18 WordPress 6.0 support. 2.0.18
- — Version 2.0.17 Fixed a problem with displaying. 2.0.17
- — Version 2.0.16 Improved plugin stability and security. 2.0.16
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (2.0.21). Sites still on an older version should update.
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.
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 2 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
4 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 "New Categories widget in the awesome style! Bring colours to your categories widget - make every category i..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! 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 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 362 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 4 tags appear in the text; "coloured", "colourful categories" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-04-27 3K+ → 2K+ down after 66 days in tier
- 2024-02-21 2K+ → 3K+ up after 81 days in tier
- 2023-12-02 3K+ → 2K+ down after 1568 days in tier
- 2019-08-17 400+ → 3K+ up after 1418 days in tier
- 2015-09-29 300+ → 400+ 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).
-
Flexible Posts Widget 7K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D -
Collapsing Categories 4K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B - R Recent Posts by Category Widget 4K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Display Categories Widget 3K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D -
Categorized Tag Cloud 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B -
JS Categories List Widget 1K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Colorful Categories into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/colorful-categories" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Colorful Categories — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Colorful Categories: 2K+ active installs, 4.7★ (13 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/colorful-categories
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