Hide Categories
by Eduardo · Uncategorized
Also makes 1 other plugin · 210+ installs across the portfolio →
Hide one o more categories when you use the_category tag or wp_list_categories tag. No exclude post, but only hide a category name in template view.
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 43/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
200+
≈250 estimated
Momentum
+0%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “category”, “hide” and “hide categories” 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.
43 health vs 58 average across 25,737 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 22.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,769 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.
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 15+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 2.8.4, 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 5696 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 2.8.4; the current branch is 6.8
3.7★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.06★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 5696 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 | ||
| hide your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| hide categories your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches 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
- “category”, “hide” and “hide categories” 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 164 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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.
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
15.6y ago
latest release · v1.2 · 28 Mar 2011
2
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 10 months ago; the previous band took 18 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 18 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Heliocles10.5y ago
A client was using this and when I updated WP it stopped working. If you are already using it, you can make it work by changing one line in the plugin code. Go to the plugin editor and select Hide Categories from the drop down. The file selected on the right should be ‘hide-categories/hide-categories.php’ 32 lines down you should see: if(in_array($key, $exclude)) unset($code[$key]); Replace only the first $key with $r->term_id and save.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Erwin10.8y ago
Does not hide the selected categories. Some of the selected categories were hidden on some posts and on others, other (seemingly) random categories were hidden. Tested with 4.4 and theme ColorMag.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Dashcam Wiki11.2y ago
tested with Avada 3.8.4 and WP 4.2.4
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ prosperewebitor11.5y ago
I’ve had this plugin for years, but as of this morning, it doesn’t seem to work anymore! Some of the categories that I’ve hidden are displaying and others that I did not hide are hidden.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jaysonlopez711.6y ago
I was looking for a simple plugin to simply hide a post category from displaying my “slider” category on my footer widget and this worked perfectly. I’m using a slider that needs me to add the images as posts to a category and this did the trick. Thank you to the creator of this plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ arnaeth12.3y ago
excelent, doing its job!
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
2 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 "Hide one o more categories when you use the_category tag or wp_list_categories tag. No exclude post, but on..."
- ! 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 323 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
- 2026-01-16 300+ → 200+ down after 532 days in tier
- 2024-08-02 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-08-01 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-07-30 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-07-29 300+ → 400+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2024-07-26 400+ → 300+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2024-07-20 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-07-19 400+ → 300+ down after 3 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).
-
Hide Category by User Role for WooCommerce 300+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B - W WP Hide Category 90+ installs · 3.4★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Pages with category and tag 50K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
If Menu – Visibility control for Menus 50K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag C -
WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Hide Categories into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/hide-categories" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Hide Categories — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Hide Categories: 200+ active installs, 3.7★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/hide-categories
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