Featured Post Exclude Category for Genesis
by AMP-MODE · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 13 other plugins · 11.8K+ installs across the portfolio →
A new featured posts widget for Genesis themes that allows you to exclude a category when selecting All Categories in the featured post widget.
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 46/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
50+
≈60 estimated
Momentum
+36%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “featured posts”, “genesis” and “genesis wp” 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.
46 health vs 56 average across 5,902 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.2%
of downloads still active
At least 50 of 4.1K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,192 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.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 5+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.8.19.
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 1846 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.8.19; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.15★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1846 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| featured posts your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| genesis your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| genesis wp your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| studiopress your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| 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
- “featured posts”, “genesis” and “genesis wp” 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 81 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #20,100 to #21,300, alongside the other plugins at 50+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
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
5.1y ago
latest release · v1.0.4 · 13 Oct 2021
5
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 “50+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 60.
Install history since 6 Dec 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ sdwhite607.9y ago
This is perfect! It corrects a seemingly obvious flaw in StudioPress’ though processes for this functionality. The only thing I would add in the documentation is that it should be used to REPLACE the Genesis plugin completely. It may have been lack of coffee on my part when I was installing it but took me a second to realize that I needed to remove the Genesis version and replace it with this one.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rmizrah18.8y ago
Work like charm. Thank You
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Scott DeLuzio9.3y ago
Really easy way to exclude a category from the Featured Post widget.
Read on wp.org ↗
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 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "A new featured posts widget for Genesis themes that allows you to exclude a category when selecting All Cat..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! 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 1 heading and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 996 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "Genesis WP", "studiopress" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-21 60+ → 50+ down after 197 days in tier
- 2026-04-07 70+ → 60+ down after 81 days in tier
- 2026-01-16 60+ → 70+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-15 70+ → 60+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-14 60+ → 70+ up after 22 days in tier
- 2025-12-23 70+ → 60+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-12-21 60+ → 70+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-12-20 70+ → 60+ 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).
-
Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags B -
Genesis Connect for WooCommerce 10K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags B -
Genesis Featured Page Advanced 7K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags C -
Genesis Widget Column Classes 5K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A -
Genesis Simple Menus 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Featured Post Exclude Category for Genesis into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/featured-post-exclude-category-for-genesis" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Featured Post Exclude Category for Genesis — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Featured Post Exclude Category for Genesis: 50+ active installs, 5.0★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/featured-post-exclude-category-for-genesis
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.