Gleam: Run Competitions on Your WordPress Blog
by stuartmck · Social
An amazing solution to run competitions on your blog using combinations of social actions.
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 42/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈200 estimated
Momentum
+3%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “contest”, “facebook” and “instagram” 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.
42 health vs 58 average across 1,834 Social plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 11.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Social plugin keeps 0.5%, across 1,276 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Social plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance 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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35, well behind 6.8.
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 3083 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.9.35; the current branch is 6.8
3.0★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.02★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3083 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| contest your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| facebook your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| instagram your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| twitter your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 2 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
- “contest”, “facebook” and “instagram” 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 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 209 · 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
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.
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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band today and the previous band took 20 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 200.
Install history since 29 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Mohamed Taman7.0y ago
not clear
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aliomais8.0y ago
i tried to reach gleam site and its not working from many browsers
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tony Cecala11.0y ago
Makes embedding Gleam promos a snap for non-techie folks. As a lead capture tool, Gleam is a gem. Highly recommended. Great support too.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kazryll12.4y ago
In less than 2 minutes I have added a competition feature, there is no restriction on using the free version which gives me time to play around before using their paid custom version.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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
6 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 "An amazing solution to run competitions on your blog using combinations of social actions."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 8 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 8 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you want", "use this", "if you have").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and 1 more.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 713 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "contest", "social media" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-31 200+ → 100+ down after 611 days in tier
- 2025-02-27 300+ → 200+ down after 374 days in tier
- 2024-02-19 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-02-18 300+ → 400+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2024-02-11 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2024-02-09 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-02-07 400+ → 300+ down after 492 days in tier
- 2022-10-03 500+ → 400+ down after 412 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).
-
Social Media Widget 30K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags C -
Iframely – WP media embeds, cards and blocks 2K+ installs · 3.8★ · 3 shared tags C -
Curator.io 2K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags A - S Social Media Icons Widget 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
-
ParrotPoster – Auto Post to Social Media 100+ installs · 3.5★ · 3 shared tags B -
Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Gleam: Run Competitions on Your WordPress Blog into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/gleam" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Gleam: Run Competitions on Your WordPress Blog — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Gleam: Run Competitions on Your WordPress Blog: 100+ active installs, 3.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/gleam
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