Featured Audio
by Nick Halsey · Media
Also makes 23 other plugins · 20.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
Add featured audio to your posts and pages, like featured images.
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 54/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
400+
≈460 estimated
Momentum
—
no download trend yet
Biggest opportunity: “audio”, “media” and “music” 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.
54 health vs 62 average across 3,278 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.6%
of downloads still active
At least 400 of 15.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,317 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
28/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Not actively maintained. No update in about 2 years.
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.
Room to improve
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 841 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.6.11; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.17★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 841 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| audio your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| music your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| podcast your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “audio”, “media” and “music” 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 179 · 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
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
2.3y ago
latest release · v1.2 · 12 Jul 2024
3
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
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 “400+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 65% of the way through.
Install history since 24 Dec 2016
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
3 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 "Add featured audio to your posts and pages, like featured images."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you need"); 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 9 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,438 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 4 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-06-24 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-06-23 400+ → 500+ up after 39 days in tier
- 2026-05-15 500+ → 400+ down after 181 days in tier
- 2025-11-15 600+ → 500+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-11-14 500+ → 600+ up after 5 days in tier
- 2025-11-09 600+ → 500+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-11-08 500+ → 600+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-11-07 600+ → 500+ down after 3 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).
-
Meks Audio Player 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags C -
Transcoder 400+ installs · 3.8★ · 3 shared tags C -
Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags A -
AudioIgniter Music Player 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Featured Audio into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/featured-audio" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Featured Audio — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Featured Audio: 400+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/featured-audio
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