Easy Sidebar Menu Widget
by Jeffrey Carandang · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 7 other plugins · 3.5K+ installs across the portfolio →
Add WordPress Dropdown Menu Widget easily! Upgrade your sidebar menus to responsive dropdown widget now!
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 52/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
2K+
≈2.6K estimated
Momentum
+38%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “menu widget”, “nav menu” and “responsive 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.
52 health vs 56 average across 5,897 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →6.4%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 31.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,189 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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39, well behind 6.8.
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 3260 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
4.8★ over 141 reviews, smoothed to 4.62★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3260 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| menu widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| nav menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| responsive menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| sidebar menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| sidebar menu widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “menu widget”, “nav menu” and “responsive 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 300 · 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 · 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 “2K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 5 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 59% of the way through.
Install history since 1 Aug 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ nettlfareham2.9y ago
No longer works with WordPress as of 6.4.2 This topic was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by nettlfareham.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ liv2423.3y ago
As a free widget offers decent and simple job
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ vdovkingv4.5y ago
It’s okay I found what I was looking for
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ libertadpayaso4.8y ago
Is a simple but effectly plugin that solved my problem. Sidebars are not common in current time, but a costumer request it. A long sidebar looks awful, but making it collapsible looks better and improves UX. Maybe a little costumization would help.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hlesbrown5.0y ago
Works great.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ harleyale295.2y ago
verry nais
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ leekane5.4y ago
The plugin developer needs to address the not tested with the latest 3 major WordPress releases, or, at least do a small update just to confirm this is not a dead plugin. Other then that it works very well. No speed issues. No debug errors (at least on my set up which is a Litespeed server or conflicts with my 30 or so other plugins). Apart from some small styling changes it meshed nicely with my theme (Themeco Pro) on WordPress 5.7.2 Many Thanks This topic was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by leekane. Reason: To add Wordpress version
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ zaririnatma5.6y ago
Excelent.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Add WordPress Dropdown Menu Widget easily! Upgrade your sidebar menus to responsive dropdown widget now!"
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Twitter.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 1 list.
- ! Enough to quote 769 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "nav menu", "responsive menu" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-06-04 3K+ → 2K+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2026-05-30 2K+ → 3K+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2026-05-27 3K+ → 2K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-05-25 2K+ → 3K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-24 3K+ → 2K+ down after 583 days in tier
- 2024-10-18 4K+ → 3K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-10-17 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-10-16 4K+ → 3K+ down after 522 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).
-
Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu 7K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B - S Sidebar Menu Widget 200+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Clickable Sidebar Menu — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Max Mega Menu 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Menu Image, Icons made easy 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B -
User Menus – Nav Menu Visibility 80K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Easy Sidebar Menu Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/easy-sidebar-menu-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Easy Sidebar Menu Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Easy Sidebar Menu Widget: 2K+ active installs, 4.8★ (141 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/easy-sidebar-menu-widget
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