Drop Shadow Boxes
by Steve Henty · Uncategorized
Highlight important content on your posts and pages inside a box with a drop shadow.
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
C 66/100
Stale
Active installs
3K+
≈4K estimated
Momentum
+39%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “shadow” and “boxes” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4 and #24 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
66 health vs 58 average across 25,736 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.5%
of downloads still active
At least 3K of 198.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,764 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 12 reviews to 2024-01-26Reviewers keep calling it simple to install and reliable over years of use, with warm words for the developer's support, and only one older complaint about alignment breaking on a WordPress update.
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 701 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.7.11; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 77 reviews, smoothed to 4.65★
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 701 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.
31
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 25d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 25d
+0.9
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| drop shadow your tag | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| shadow | #4 | #5 | 0 |
| drop shadow box | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| box shadow your tag | #13 | #10 | down 4 |
| shadows your tag | #23 | #18 | down 2 |
| boxes | #24 | #22 | down 6 |
8 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 6 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “shadow” and “boxes” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4 and #24 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
- One page off on “box shadow”. #13 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 4.5K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
wp.org popularity rank over time · lower is better
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
1.9y ago
latest release · v1.7.15 · 29 Nov 2024
40
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 92% 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 “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 days ago and the previous band took 16 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 4K.
Install history since 29 Dec 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ dsitechmktg2.8y ago
This plugin is exactly as described and works great!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ meijin2k4.1y ago
This is just an outstanding little plugin that I found today! My thanks to the author creating it as it is now serving a good purpose for me. Easy to install and use…what more could you ask for? Very much what I was looking for and highly recommended!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Matthew4.3y ago
Using this thing for years on a site. Still works!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ JS4.3y ago
fuktioniert wunderbar
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ reviewzines6.0y ago
Dosent properly work with wordpress 5.5.3.There is alignment issues happening.please fix,and I will updade my review.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tanmoy Biswas7.2y ago
Excellent Plugin! Thanks for hard work This topic was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Tanmoy Biswas.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rajvivan7.7y ago
This sounds good but what I am more interested to know , can we add a hyperlink inside the buttons? I want to add 5 button in single row, then another 5 buttons in another row and so own. Please let me if it is possible or not
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jnull7.8y ago
Outstanding plugin and even more outstanding support from Steve!
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.7.15 Added security enhancements. 1.7.15
- — Version 1.7.14 Added security enhancements. 1.7.14
- — Version 1.7.13 Added security enhancements. 1.7.13
- — Version 1.7.12 Added security enhancements. 1.7.12
- — Version 1.7.11 Added security enhancements. 1.7.11
- — Version 1.7.10 Added security enhancements. 1.7.10
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 6 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.7.15). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 6.3 Drop Shadow Boxes <= 1.7.14 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Shortcode Execution ↗2024-11-15 CVE-2024-10262 Improper Control of Generation of Code Affects <= 1.7.14 Patched in 1.7.15
- Patched Medium · 6.4 Drop Shadow Boxes <= 1.7.13 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Shortcode ↗2023-11-20 CVE-2023-5469 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.7.13 Patched in 1.7.14
- 2023-07-18 CVE-2023-33999 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects 1.5.8 - 1.7.10 Patched in 1.7.12
- Patched Medium · 6.4 Drop Shadow Boxes <= 1.7.10 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2023-05-15 CVE-2023-23833 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.7.10 Patched in 1.7.11
- 2019-02-25 Missing Authorization Affects < 1.7.2 Patched in 1.7.2
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.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.7.2
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 76 languages, 2 at 90% or more
Plus 52 more locales with partial translations.
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
6 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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 14 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 14 of 14 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("use it", "if you have").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg, Block editor, Facebook.
- ! Headings and lists 4 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 4,671 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "box shadow" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-19 4K+ → 3K+ down after 467 days in tier
- 2025-07-09 5K+ → 4K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-07-07 4K+ → 5K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-07-05 5K+ → 4K+ down after 371 days in tier
- 2024-06-29 6K+ → 5K+ down after 589 days in tier
- 2022-11-18 7K+ → 6K+ down after 462 days in tier
- 2021-08-13 8K+ → 7K+ down after 404 days in tier
- 2020-07-05 9K+ → 8K+ down after 414 days in tier
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Drop Shadow Boxes into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/drop-shadow-boxes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Drop Shadow Boxes — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Drop Shadow Boxes: 3K+ active installs, 5.0★ (77 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/drop-shadow-boxes
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