Grey Admin Color Schemes
by Greg Ross · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 37 other plugins · 6.4K+ installs across the portfolio →
Grey color schemes for WordPress 3.8's admin area.
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Health
D 49/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈350 estimated
Momentum
+21%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “admin”, “color” and “scheme” 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.
49 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.1%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 7.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,187 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities 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 1063 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.4.14; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.17★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1063 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| grey | #16 | #14 | 0 |
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| color your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| scheme your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “admin”, “color” and “scheme” 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 120 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ 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.
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
2.9y ago
latest release · v1.7 · 3 Dec 2023
9
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
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 “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 years 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 28 Mar 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ cpunter1.9y ago
Super-easy to use and works like a charm. My eyes got tired of the stark contrast of the default theme and all the other presets look bad to me. This is when I stumbled on this plugin that does precisely what it says on the tin. It creates four new themes to choose from in the usual WP manner. Quickly and easily. The only additions I could ask for are either more themes or further customization of the preset themes, preferably by element.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Noahj11.8y ago
Simple grey is the way to go! It actually should have been included since WordPress 3.6. For the reason because many users were used to the old classic color scheme. While the classic is not used it would have been nice to included something along that lines like this, simple grey versions. I know out of the box the new colors schemes I didn’t like. They are all a bit to funky. Thanks for this!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Manuel Schmalstieg12.8y ago
Thanks for those! I think they are the best currently available color schemes, in terms of contrast and lightness/darkness – an improvement upon the “official” schemes. Perhaps we are using a similar laptop screen 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Josh.biz12.9y ago
Thanks. I love the Modern Grey color scheme – very easy on the eye and easy to work with. I’ve customised my active menu background colour to #0074A2 (the same zingy blue the WordPress default scheme uses). That makes it perfect for me. I’ll probably have to keep updating my custom CSS file (line 223 of color.css) when/if the plug-in is updated. But worth it. Thanks again. 🙂
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
1 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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("None at this time").
- ! 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 2 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 731 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 3 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2023-10-21 400+ → 300+ down after 172 days in tier
- 2023-05-02 300+ → 400+ up after 96 days in tier
- 2023-01-26 400+ → 300+ down after 31 days in tier
- 2022-12-26 300+ → 400+ up after 223 days in tier
- 2022-05-17 400+ → 300+ down after 1566 days in tier
- 2018-02-01 300+ → 400+ 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).
-
Loginizer 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Redux Framework 900K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
White Label CMS 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Nested Pages 90K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Grey Admin Color Schemes into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/grey-admin-color-schemes" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Grey Admin Color Schemes — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Grey Admin Color Schemes: 300+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/grey-admin-color-schemes
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