Genesis Simple Sidebars
by StudioPress · Uncategorized
Also makes 7 other plugins · 64.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
This plugin allows you to create multiple, dynamic widget areas, and assign those widget areas to sidebar locations within the Genesis Framework on a …
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Health
B 83/100
no flags
Active installs
10K+
≈15K estimated
Momentum
+16%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “dynamic sidebar”, “sidebar” and “assign” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9, #9 and #19 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 4 listed these are the slots worth spending.
83 health vs 58 average across 25,738 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.1%
of downloads still active
At least 10K of 481.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,771 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 152 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.4★ over 27 reviews, smoothed to 4.21★
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
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.
34
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
9%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| studiopress your tag | #1 | #1 | up 1 |
| genesis framework | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| sidebars | #3 | #3 | down 1 |
| genesiswp your tag | #3 | #3 | 0 |
| genesis your tag | #8 | #10 | down 1 |
| sidebar | #9 | #10 | down 1 |
| create sidebars | #4 | #7 | down 2 |
| custom sidebars | #7 | #11 | 0 |
| multiple sidebar | #5 | #8 | 0 |
| dynamic sidebar | #9 | #11 | 0 |
| genesis plugin | #7 | #9 | 0 |
| genesis wp | #7 | #7 | 0 |
| hooks your tag | #22 | #20 | 0 |
| assign | #19 | #19 | — |
| create sidebar | #11 | #16 | — |
| drop down | #23 | #21 | — |
| custom sidebar | #23 | #19 | down 4 |
| area | #24 | #19 | 0 |
| administration | #24 | #20 | down 10 |
| assign category | #24 | #20 | down 2 |
53 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 27 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “dynamic sidebar”, “sidebar” and “assign” to your wp.org tags. You rank #9, #9 and #19 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 4 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 12.7K · 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
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
5mo ago
latest release · v2.2.3 · 2 Jun 2026
15
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 90% 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 “10K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 23 months ago; the previous band took 2 years to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 17 Jun 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Britlish6.9y ago
On a Genesis site, Britlish.com, the plugin works exactly as described right out of the box.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ biberkopf6.9y ago
… but it seems to only support child pages in one layer (1. generation). Sub-sub-pages are not supported when “child pages” are clicked.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ davidkonicek7.1y ago
You can create a sidebar, but it won’t get added to the page.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mafreprezent7.3y ago
Really wish I could give a better review. After a lot of testing for plugin conflicts, this simply does not do anything. No matter what I tried, I could make the sidebars but they would never show up on the page. I’d select the new sidebar, add some widgets to it just in case, but only my original “Primary Sidebar” would show up. When I go into Customize, it only shows and lets me edit the primary sidebar. Tested on multiple pages. I provided screen shots and as much as I could in the support area and am not making this review until after I waited for a month with very little reply from support until things just went cold. It’s been a week since my last poke on the post. I understand it seems to work for a lot of people, just not us.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hello7there8.4y ago
Common StudioPress! What’s gong on here? Your company is highly successful. I expected more! Show some professionalism.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ daguru698.8y ago
Thank you so much for making this easy. I burned way too many hours messing around with this nonsense in codelandia.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jan4449.8y ago
Excellent stuff, works perfect and it’s easy for clients (and for me) to manage the different custom sidebars. Big thanks,
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tara Jacobsen10.6y ago
I spent about 10 minutes getting this plugin installed and set up. SO incredibly easy and now running custom sidebars on my site. Uses the widget function which I am super familiar with in the Genesis ecosystem.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.2.3 Prevent a PHP fatal error under PHP 8.x if incomplete sidebar data exists. Fix a PHP deprecation warning under PHP 8.x. Fix Genesis download link in admin notice if a Genesis child theme is not active. 2.2.3
- — Version 2.2.2 Fix overlapping of sidebar selector in editor. 2.2.2
- — Version 2.2.1 Allow sidebars to show in the WordPress Posts page. 2.2.1
- — Version 2.2.0 Fixed coding standards errors. Introduced coding standards validation. 2.2.0
- — Version 2.1.0 Rewrite based on new plugin boilerplate. Make ID field readonly, rather than disabled. Add header widget area support. Allow for empty ID (auto-generate ID from name). Allow for only alphanumeric characters in ID. Use Wo 2.1.0
- — Version 2.0.3 Fix warnings and notices. 2.0.3
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.4.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 85 languages, 9 at 90% or more
Plus 61 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
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 "This plugin allows you to create multiple, dynamic widget areas, and assign those widget areas to sidebar l..."
- ! 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 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 572 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 4 tags appear in the text ("genesiswp", "hooks", "studiopress" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-11-30 20K+ → 10K+ down after 741 days in tier
- 2022-11-20 30K+ → 20K+ down after 809 days in tier
- 2020-09-02 40K+ → 30K+ down after 866 days in tier
- 2018-04-20 50K+ → 40K+ down
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★ · 4 shared tags B - G Genesis Visual Hook Guide 700+ installs · 4.5★ · 4 shared tags D
- G Genesis Post Teasers 100+ installs · 3.3★ · 4 shared tags F
-
Genesis Connect for WooCommerce 10K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B -
Genesis Simple Menus 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags B - G Genesis Featured Widget Amplified 2K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Genesis Simple Sidebars into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/genesis-simple-sidebars" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Genesis Simple Sidebars — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Genesis Simple Sidebars: 10K+ active installs, 4.4★ (27 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/genesis-simple-sidebars
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