Descriptive Menu Plugin
by AcumenConsulting · Admin & Utilities
The Descriptive Menu Widget adds a WordPress menu to a page and includes each menu item's description.
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
D 47/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
20+
≈26 estimated
Momentum
-50%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: “css”, “links” and “menu” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
47 health vs 56 average across 5,904 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.4%
of downloads still active
At least 20 of 4.7K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,194 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.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 12+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.6.1, well behind 7.1.
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.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 4726 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.6.1; the current branch is 7.1
5.0★ over 4 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.2★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4726 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.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| css your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| links your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “css”, “links” and “menu” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 159 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #25,400 to #28,300, alongside the other plugins at 20+ 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.
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
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 “20+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; the previous band took 13 months to cross, which places it about 55% of the way through.
Install history since 29 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ mikekitc13.1y ago
This plugin can be a real time saver! I’ll definitely be getting some use out of this.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ thelando61813.1y ago
Can’t wait to roll this out into production versions of my sites. Will be using in the future.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rwagnon13.1y ago
This is so awesome! It save me so much time hand coding icon’ed menus. I can’t believe it didn’t exist before, I’ve been checking the plugins for a long time!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Stringman13.1y ago
Glad to finally see a menu widget plugin that supports the “description” value of the menu item… and icons! Bonus! The elements are all easy to style with CSS and the plugin is light and well written. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 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 "The Descriptive Menu Widget adds a WordPress menu to a page and includes each menu item's description."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("built for"); say who the plugin is for and 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 263 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "links" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-10 30+ → 20+ down after 396 days in tier
- 2025-04-09 40+ → 30+ down after 224 days in tier
- 2024-08-28 50+ → 40+ down after 55 days in tier
- 2024-07-04 60+ → 50+ down after 257 days in tier
- 2023-10-21 70+ → 60+ down after 382 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 90+ → 70+ down after 515 days in tier
- 2021-05-07 200+ → 90+ down
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).
-
Editor Menu and Widget Access 7K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D -
HT Menu – WordPress Mega Menu Builder for Elementor 3K+ installs · 3.4★ · 2 shared tags B -
WP Widget in Navigation 2K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags B -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Max Mega Menu 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Menu Image, Icons made easy 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Descriptive Menu Plugin into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/descriptive-menu-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Descriptive Menu Plugin — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Descriptive Menu Plugin: 20+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/descriptive-menu-widget
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