FV Top Level Categories
by FolioVision · Uncategorized
Also makes 18 other plugins · 36.5K+ installs across the portfolio →
This is a fix of Top Level Categories plugin for Wordpress 3.1. and above.
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
C 68/100
Stale
Active installs
20K+
≈25K estimated
Momentum
+28%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “level”, “postname” and “paging” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4, #4 and #12 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
68 health vs 58 average across 25,764 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.8%
of downloads still active
At least 20K of 255.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 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.
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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 425 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
4.4★ over 23 reviews, smoothed to 4.19★ and held back under 25 reviews
2 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 425 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.
32
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
6%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| top level | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| level | #4 | #10 | down 1 |
| postname | #4 | #5 | 0 |
| top categories | #6 | #10 | down 3 |
| paging | #12 | #11 | down 3 |
| categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| permalink your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
18 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 13 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
- Add “level”, “postname” and “paging” to your wp.org tags. You rank #4, #4 and #12 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.6K · 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
1.2y ago
latest release · v1.9.1 · 3 Sep 2025
10
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 91% 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 “20K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6.2 years ago; the previous band took 13 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 5 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ thepiper6.1y ago
It works fine
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ADigitalMark6.4y ago
Simple. Light on code. Easy to understand interface. Handles redirects by itself. Works immediately, without breaking anything else. A delight to have discovered it. I can recommend this to anyone wanting to remove the word, ‘category,’ from their WordPress URLs for child categories.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aplusdesign8.5y ago
Does as labelled, removed /category/ from all my category links generated by WordPress, did not break pagination!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Pt9.4y ago
After some frustration trying to remove ‘category’ form WordPress URL slugs by other means, this solved the problem. Works with pagination in Avada 5.1.6.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bamajr10.4y ago
If you run into pagination issues when using the: /%category%/%postname%/ …Custom Permalink Structure, you will want this plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ SuzuKube10.5y ago
Nothing to do. Just perfect. Thank you
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ greguh10.6y ago
works perfectly, nothing to do and even some humour into the settings (it took make a minute to see url changes and understand that it was a joke hehe) thanks !!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ silkway11.5y ago
You should note that it is simply a code, that can be found in the internet. YES, there are some limitations that could be pointed out by plugin developers (for example, it does not work for non-latin URLs and can make a mess after being deactivated) and errors caused by users that use some imcompatible code in some of their files while searching for a solution. BUT, some nice guys keep updating it for you 😉 So, respect their work. If you have any code with workarounds – please, share. If you do not have workarounds – learn PHP. )))
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.9.1 Assing GPL license info Tested with WordPress 5.3 Bugfix for AMP category URLs 1.9.1
- — Version 1.9 Bugfix for AMP category URLs 1.9
- — Version 1.8.2 Self-checking for rewrite rules 1.8.2
- — Version 1.8.1 Fix for PHP warnings 1.8.1
- — Version 1.8 Fix for paginated category archives when using custom pagination_base – thanks to odie2! Fix for settings link in plugin row – thanks to odie2! 1.8
- — Version 1.7 Added Polish translation – thanks to [email protected] Added Portuguese translation – thanks to Pedro Mendonça 1.7
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 70 languages, 5 at 90% or more · development strings
Plus 46 more locales with partial translations.
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 27 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 Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("I’m having issues with child categories when I’m using /%category%/%postname% permalink structure").
- ! 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 2 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,048 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 2 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2020-08-13 30K+ → 20K+ down after 388 days in tier
- 2019-07-22 20K+ → 30K+ up
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).
- T Top Level Categories 2K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Custom Permalinks 100K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag A -
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
List category posts 70K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Media Library Assistant 70K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for FV Top Level Categories into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/fv-top-level-cats" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="FV Top Level Categories — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> FV Top Level Categories: 20K+ active installs, 4.4★ (23 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/fv-top-level-cats
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