Easy Footnotes

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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.

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.

21 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 11 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.

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

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 99% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 15 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ scientificnotes

   1.6y ago

   ​Easy Footnotes is an excellent plugin that delivers on its promise of simplicity and speed. It allows for effortless insertion of footnotes, automatically numbering them and appending them to the end of posts. The hover-over functionality enhances user experience by displaying footnote content without navigating away from the main text. However, a notable limitation is the inability to position footnotes elsewhere within a post. Introducing a shortcode, such as [efn_notes], to specify footnote placement would significantly enhance its versatility.​

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ delphineous

   1.6y ago

   The Easy Footnotes plug-in is simple and easy to use. I use it to add sub-context, references, and any other information that is relevant to the content but would otherwise disrupt the flow of the post.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ kambro

   5.4y ago

   As simple as good plugin. Nothing wore required. Thank you to the developers. This topic was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by kambro.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ silverliebt

   6.4y ago

   This plugin came in extremely handy when I was recently marking up a long post with art, text and footnotes for my site on Chris Marker. I can verify as well that it even works within the now quite popular Elementor visual builder. I cannot say for sure yet but the paragraphs that contain EFN shortcodes seem to load more slowly than regular paragraphs; perhaps there is some code optimization in order, but I will leave that to your developers. I would also like to recommend some additional CSS for those who would like a numerical marker, already small due to the sup tag, to stand out more, by adding, for example: sup { top: -.5em; background: linen; padding: 6px; border-radius: 4px; border: 1px #ccc solid; } This will give the touch/click target a bit more room due to the padding (and therefore better UX), and visually make the footnote stand out in a pretty professional manner. Choose your own colors. Once again, excellent plugin, many thanks for saving the day! This topic was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by silverliebt. This topic was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by silverliebt.

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5. ★★★★★ spitfrog

   6.5y ago

   The [efn_note] tags should be in colour and bold to make them easier to find in the text. Thank you very much for this nice work.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ Clarus Dignus

   7.1y ago

   Install and wrap footnote content in shortcode. This plugin does everything else. E.g. Automated numbering, hover box, footnotes at end of post etc. Works well with Gutenberg. My favorite feature is being able to disable the footnote section at the bottom of the post/page and instead rely entirely on the hover box.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ ckoerner

   7.2y ago

   I had been using a similar plugin that hasn’t been updated in over 6 years. Easy Footnotes was a drop-in replacement and actually works better than the old plugin. Nice simple settings and easy to customize. 👍

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ mcfitzsatx

   7.3y ago

   I looked around until I found a decent plugin for footnotes, and this is it. Relatively easy to use and works very well. Easy to edit footnotes. Looks very professional on the page.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 1.1.13 Fixed textdomain loading issue for WordPress 6.7 compatibility by preventing early translation calls during class construction. 1.1.13
2. — Version 1.1.12 Bugfix for instances where the_content is called multiple times in a page. 1.1.12
3. — Version 1.1.11 Made combined footnote functionality from 1.1.9 enabled by a setting to avoid breaking sites that rely on the old behavior. Now can be turned on with “Combine duplicate footnotes” setting in Easy Footnotes settings. 1.1.11
4. — Version 1.1.10 Fixes a bug with sites that called the_content() multiple times not displaying footnotes due to easy_footnote_reset running. easy_footnote_reset now only runs when an option is activated. This had previously been impleme 1.1.10
5. — Version 1.1.9 Adds support for duplicate footnotes using the same number Fixes a bug with multiple footnotes showing at the bottom when do_shortcode() is run on the_content outside the main loop. Add better i18n support for the plugin 1.1.9
6. — Version 1.1.8 WordPress 6.6 support 1.1.8

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.1

Translated into 5 languages, 5 at 90% or more

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.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2025-08-08 9K+ → 8K+ down after 1 days in tier
2. 2025-08-07 8K+ → 9K+ up after 3 days in tier
3. 2025-08-04 9K+ → 8K+ down after 362 days in tier
4. 2024-08-07 10K+ → 9K+ down after 1 days in tier
5. 2024-08-06 9K+ → 10K+ up after 1 days in tier
6. 2024-08-05 10K+ → 9K+ down after 1362 days in tier
7. 2020-11-12 9K+ → 10K+ up after 419 days in tier
8. 2019-09-20 8K+ → 9K+ up after 67 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).

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Easy Footnotes: 8K+ active installs, 4.8★ (33 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/easy-footnotes