Disable Author Archives
by freemp · Uncategorized
Also makes 3 other plugins · 10.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Disable Author Archives completely removes author archives and makes the web server return status code 404 ('Not Found') instead.
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
10K+
≈19K estimated
Momentum
+48%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “links”, “pages” and “disable” for “comment author”, “author link” and “page archive”. “links” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “comment author” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “pages” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “author link” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “disable” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #22. “page archive” sits at #20 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
84 health vs 58 average across 25,734 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →12%
of downloads still active
At least 10K of 80.5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,766 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.
Details
Recent review vibe
read from the latest 7 reviews to 2024-02-22Reviewers say it does exactly what the name promises, and they're happy with the developer's responsiveness. There's one older complaint about a site breaking, but the newest reviews are positive.
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 71 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.
33
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
6%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| archives your tag | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| disable author | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| disable archives | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| author your tag | #7 | #11 | down 1 |
| comment author | #8 | #13 | down 1 |
| archives page | #5 | #11 | down 1 |
| archive | #9 | #13 | down 2 |
| archive page | #10 | #17 | up 1 |
| author link | #11 | #17 | down 1 |
| authors | #12 | #18 | 0 |
| author by | #8 | #13 | up 1 |
| author pages | #8 | #16 | 0 |
| disable comments on pages | #8 | #18 | 0 |
| disable your tag | #22 | #22 | down 1 |
| found | #21 | #23 | down 6 |
| not found | #21 | #23 | up 3 |
| disable comments | #15 | #18 | down 2 |
| author page | #11 | #19 | 0 |
| page author | #11 | #18 | — |
| disable links | #11 | #21 | down 1 |
| links your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| pages your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
53 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 29 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
- Swap “links”, “pages” and “disable” for “comment author”, “author link” and “page archive”. “links” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “comment author” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “pages” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “author link” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “disable” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #22. “page archive” sits at #20 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 16.7K · 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.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 98% 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 “10K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 11 Jan 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ net2.7y ago
A simple and effective plugin. Excellent communication with the developer.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dichternebel2.8y ago
Does the job. Thanks for sharing!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nicklasbordum5.5y ago
It messed up my whole site… Don’t know how to get the old site back
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ schoefl5.7y ago
The author archive is unnecessary for a single blog. Switching on and off should be a WordPress core feature.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ flwpfan6.3y ago
Just like the title says!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ alkerprivate6.8y ago
It works as stated. Thanks to the developer!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dustyhope7.8y ago
Does what it says. Just what I was looking for.Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.3.5 Fixed malformed URLs by restoring a previous author link filter. 1.3.5
- — Version 1.3.4 Leaving comment author link untouched. Restored priority of template_redirect action. 1.3.4
- — Version 1.3.3 Added removal of author links in comments. No longer remove author name, just the link to the author archive. Removed needless loading of plugin text domain. 1.3.3
- — Version 1.3.2 Removed users section from WordPress built-in sitemap. Suggested by @constracti. Thanks! 1.3.2
- — Version 1.3.1 Removed View link from admin’s Users list. Suggested by @khaiknievel. Thanks! 1.3.1
- — Version 1.3.0 Opened plugin for translations. Set filter callback priorities to lowest possible value. 1.3.0
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.4.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 7 languages, 7 at 90% or more · development strings
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
2 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Disable Author Archives completely removes author archives and makes the web server return status code 404..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! 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 385 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ 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
- 2022-10-18 9K+ → 10K+ up after 113 days in tier
- 2022-06-27 8K+ → 9K+ up after 159 days in tier
- 2022-01-19 7K+ → 8K+ up after 122 days in tier
- 2021-09-19 6K+ → 7K+ up after 97 days in tier
- 2021-06-14 5K+ → 6K+ up after 143 days in tier
- 2021-01-22 4K+ → 5K+ up after 68 days in tier
- 2020-11-15 3K+ → 4K+ up after 137 days in tier
- 2020-07-01 2K+ → 3K+ up after 41 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).
- R Remove Author Pages 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
- A Admin Collapse Subpages 4K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
- A Author Filters 1K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D
- C Classic Widgets 2M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag B
-
Broken Link Checker 500K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP-PageNavi 400K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Disable Author Archives into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/disable-author-archives" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Disable Author Archives — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Disable Author Archives: 10K+ active installs, 4.4★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/disable-author-archives
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