FG Fix Serialized Strings
by Kerfred · Uncategorized
Also makes 9 other plugins · 9.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Fix the broken serialized strings in the options and postmeta tables
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Health
B 82/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈190 estimated
Momentum
+1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “widgets”, “wp options” and “fix” for “strings”, “dump” and “postmeta”. “widgets” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “strings” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “wp options” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “dump” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “fix” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #19. “postmeta” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
82 health vs 58 average across 25,736 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.8%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 13K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,765 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.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 78 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.7★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.08★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
36
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
13%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
0.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| serialized your tag | #2 | #13 | 0 |
| unserialized your tag | #5 | #10 | 0 |
| strings | #6 | #23 | up 1 |
| postmeta | #13 | #19 | down 1 |
| fix your tag | #19 | #24 | down 1 |
| dump | #13 | #17 | 0 |
| string | #15 | #24 | down 2 |
| widgets your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| wp options your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
8 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 7 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “widgets”, “wp options” and “fix” for “strings”, “dump” and “postmeta”. “widgets” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “strings” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “wp options” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “dump” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “fix” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #19. “postmeta” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 340 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
3mo ago
latest release · v1.2.3 · 14 Aug 2026
9
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 72% 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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and the previous band took 2.2 years to cross, so the real count is still just under 200.
Install history since 16 Apr 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ kdevanti9.8y ago
Fix the broken go_portfolio galleries after switching to SSL
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bhenselmann10.5y ago
the plugin might be able to fix serialized strings for widgets, but it was not working for fixing a serialized string from a plugin (global content block) with nested data arrays. It seems, that it simply looks for the first pair of double quotes and counts the character between.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dabbmedia12.8y ago
This plugin did not resolve the issue of disappearing text widgets after changing the domain name in a database dump. However, it did make the modifications I intended to do manually. The plugin is very cleanly coded, likely not to fail gracefully before affecting other installed plugins or theme functions or classes.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8
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
1 of 8 pass · checked 28 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 No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); 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 1 heading and 2 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 376 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "unserialized" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-07 200+ → 100+ down after 811 days in tier
- 2024-05-18 300+ → 200+ down after 273 days in tier
- 2023-08-19 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-08-18 500+ → 400+ down after 19 days in tier
- 2023-07-30 600+ → 500+ down after 34 days in tier
- 2023-06-26 700+ → 600+ down after 126 days in tier
- 2023-02-20 800+ → 700+ down after 37 days in tier
- 2023-01-14 900+ → 800+ down after 1 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).
-
One Click Demo Import 1M+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag B -
Ocean Extra 400K+ installs · 3.4★ · 1 shared tag B -
SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Blocksy Companion 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Jeg Kit for Elementor – Powerful Addons for Elementor, Widgets & Templates for WordPress 300K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag B -
Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for FG Fix Serialized Strings into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/fg-fix-serialized-strings" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="FG Fix Serialized Strings — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> FG Fix Serialized Strings: 100+ active installs, 3.7★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/fg-fix-serialized-strings
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