Comment Blacklist Manager
by Andrew Norcross · Security
Also makes 20 other plugins · 1.8K+ installs across the portfolio →
Remotely add terms to the WordPress Disallowed Comment Keys field to manage spam.
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
500+
≈590 estimated
Momentum
+36%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “comment cleanup” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9 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 3 listed it's a slot worth spending.
84 health vs 66 average across 1,777 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →5.4%
of downloads still active
At least 500 of 9.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,060 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security 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 1 release 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 77 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.4★ over 5 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ 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
-0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
17%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| blacklist your tag | #6 | #17 | 0 |
| blacklist comments | #4 | #14 | up 1 |
| comment cleanup | #9 | #19 | up 1 |
| comment field change | #16 | #24 | down 1 |
| comment field | #18 | #23 | 0 |
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
13 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 8 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 “comment cleanup” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9 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 3 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 213 · 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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
4mo ago
latest release · v1.0.1 · 10 Jul 2026
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 “500+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 49 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 600.
Install history since 26 May 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Jake Jackson11.0y ago
Does as advertised. I especially liked how you can exclude words from the automated blacklist if they don’t suit your website.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ robyn.couch11.2y ago
Installed this and within seconds the comment blacklist in my discussion settings was updated with a list of undesirable words. It does not overwrite any personal entries and even offers settings to exclude certain works from the default list. This is just input to the standard WordPress comment moderation so it will block comments from register users but there is nothing the developer can do about that.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jason Cosper11.5y ago
I’ve long loved Grant’s comment blacklist. Having a way to not manually updated every few days/weeks is super nice!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jason Kemp12.4y ago
I used this on two high traffic sites alongside Akismet. The fully automatic list is too severe and despite a number of authors having dozens of previously approved comments their comments were blacklisted. Somehow the “123 approved” field was being over ridden in one case. That person was also a site editor which was also somehow being missed. The same thing happened to other editors. I don’t think registered users ( especially at editor level) should be blocked like this. It also blocked some external commenters / but in many cases they had a few previous comments approved. Blocking the registered users is the part which should never happen. I have no doubt this works but there is clearly some settings which need to be fine tuned.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Pippin Williamson12.4y ago
What more can I say? Helping to prevent this is the only reason I need to use and love this plugin: https://cloudup.com/cY4waoyNazV
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3.2
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 3 languages, 3 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 "Remotely add terms to the WordPress Disallowed Comment Keys field to manage spam."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 7 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 7 of 7 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 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 541 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "comments" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-13 600+ → 500+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2026-09-10 500+ → 600+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-09-09 600+ → 500+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2026-09-06 500+ → 600+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-09-05 600+ → 500+ down after 644 days in tier
- 2024-11-30 700+ → 600+ down after 297 days in tier
- 2024-02-07 800+ → 700+ down after 9 days in tier
- 2024-01-29 700+ → 800+ up after 2 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).
-
Block List Updater 2K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B -
Comment Blacklist Updater 800+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A - C Cookies for Comments 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
- T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Comment Blacklist Manager into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/comment-blacklist-manager" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Comment Blacklist Manager — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Comment Blacklist Manager: 500+ active installs, 4.4★ (5 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/comment-blacklist-manager
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