Front Page Category
by binarymoon · Uncategorized
Also makes 3 other plugins · 7.4K+ installs across the portfolio →
A plugin that lets you select the categories that appear on the front page of your WordPress site.
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 48/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
5K+
≈5.5K estimated
Momentum
+28%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “category”, “customizer” and “front” 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.
48 health vs 58 average across 25,756 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.1%
of downloads still active
At least 5K of 122.8K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,773 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.
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 1006 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.5.0; the current branch is 6.8
4.0★ over 26 reviews, smoothed to 4.07★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1006 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| category your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| customizer your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| front your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| home your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| page 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). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “category”, “customizer” and “front” 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 1.1K · 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.
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
2.8y ago
latest release · v3.3.5 · 30 Jan 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 · 95% 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 “5K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 5 Feb 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ jaroslawistok4.0y ago
I use his for hide category, a kind of second parallel blog.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sirilandgren4.7y ago
Thanks a lot for making this thing that should have been baseline! <3
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hexaae4.9y ago
3.3.2 not working with my site using DIVI 4.14.2 + WP 5.8.2 This topic was modified 4 years, 7 months ago by hexaae. Reason: changed rating since it's not a bug
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ yumk005.5y ago
This plugin works well! It did what I wanted to do.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ZnetGuru5.6y ago
perfect. tHX to developper
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ khrisme7.1y ago
Works perfectly as described! Thanks for your work! WP 5.2.3
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ chartsandtrends7.4y ago
I had installed the Ultimate Category excluder that is recommended everywhere but it did not do the job. I had checked a category to be excluded from the front page and it did not go away. Then I search for an alternative plugin and found this Front Page Category one. Just had to figure out the settings are in an additional menu item almost at the bottom in Customize -> Appearance -> Front Page Category menu item.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tuyen9xvn7.5y ago
Đã hoạt động.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 3.3.5 Fix undefined function error. 3.3.5
- — Version 3.3.4 Fix undefined value error. 3.3.4
- — Version 3.3.3 Fix: Ensure the values being checked are always ints and not strings. Fixes issue with string in_array check. Thanks @coriolis_too for the report and the fix. 3.3.3
- — Version 3.3.2 Always display the category list. Previously it was only shown on the homepage but this is confusing. 3.3.2
- — Version 3.3.1 Allow all categories to be selected, even if they have no content in them. Ensure all attributes are escaped. 3.3.1
- — Version 3.3 Attempt to restrict the filtering to blog posts only. Improve coding standards. 3.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 3 languages, 2 at 90% or more · development strings
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
2 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 "A plugin that lets you select the categories that appear on the front page of your WordPress site."
- ! 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 Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 646 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-04-24 6K+ → 5K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-23 5K+ → 6K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-04-21 6K+ → 5K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-20 5K+ → 6K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-04-19 6K+ → 5K+ down after 518 days in tier
- 2024-11-17 7K+ → 6K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-11-16 6K+ → 7K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-11-15 7K+ → 6K+ 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).
-
Pages with category and tag 50K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Add Category to Pages 20K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D -
Post Type Switcher 200K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Simple Page Ordering 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Customizer Export/Import 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A - P Page Links To 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Front Page Category into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/front-page-category" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Front Page Category — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Front Page Category: 5K+ active installs, 4.0★ (26 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/front-page-category
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.