Hide/Remove Metadata
by Catch Plugins · Uncategorized
Also makes 9 other plugins · 27.7K+ installs across the portfolio →
Hide/Remove Metadata is a free WordPress plugin that helps you hide author and published date either by CSS or PHP from your website effortlessly.
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
B 78/100
no flags
Active installs
20K+
≈27K estimated
Momentum
+17%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “author” for “remove title”. “author” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “remove title” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
78 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →6.2%
of downloads still active
At least 20K of 321.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,766 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 2 releases 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
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 157 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
3.6★ over 14 reviews, smoothed to 3.99★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
42
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
27%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| remove metadata | #1 | #2 | — |
| metadata your tag | #2 | #2 | down 1 |
| published date | #2 | #5 | up 1 |
| hide author | #5 | #14 | down 2 |
| hide title | #5 | #12 | 0 |
| simple metadata | #3 | #9 | 0 |
| hide your tag | #9 | #13 | down 2 |
| post metadata | #4 | #9 | 0 |
| hide date | #4 | #7 | 0 |
| hide page title | #7 | #17 | up 1 |
| hide post title | #7 | #15 | down 1 |
| remove your tag | #16 | #16 | down 1 |
| remove title | #12 | #17 | down 1 |
| hide website | #7 | #13 | 0 |
| website hide | #7 | #12 | 0 |
| hide content | #12 | #20 | down 1 |
| hide plugins | #8 | #18 | down 2 |
| remove date | #8 | #16 | 0 |
| hide posts | #13 | #18 | down 1 |
| published | #23 | #24 | up 1 |
| author your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| date your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
60 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 33 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
- Swap “author” for “remove title”. “author” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “remove title” sits at #12 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “remove”. #16 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 17.9K · 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.
2
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v2.1 · 27 May 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 · 49% 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 12 months ago; the previous band took 3.2 years to cross, which places it about 68% of the way through.
Install history since 6 Jun 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ anakinlaroche19779mo ago
Does nothing in css or php. Useless.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tbwriter2.8y ago
The CSS option didn’t do anything for my site, but when I selected the PHP option, it removed the date as it was supposed to. It has an option to remove the author too, but I didn’t try that as I don’t want to remove the author information from my posts. Thanks for making this plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ susodp3.8y ago
PHP option remove the icon as well, working fine on WordPress 6.1.1
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Izabela Wilson4.0y ago
Sadly didn’t work nor css or php either.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Patrick5.2y ago
Just doesn’t work on my site
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ balirooms5.3y ago
It worked! (Using the PHP option) BUT! It left the little calendar icon and the separator line. I’ll live with that.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ maxidavis5.4y ago
It’s good that you can choose what you want to hide and with what technique.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ 2Flow25.5y ago
I was nervous in installing this plugin based on the other user reviews and the support forums… it seemed that installing this was a mixed bag as far as if it would work or not. However, after biting the bullet and installing it I was very pleased to find that it functioned exactly as expected and removed the listed “author” from all links to my website! (I used the “Hide By PHP” option in the plugin.) The only thing I wish this plugin could do differently is remove the author only from specific Post Types and not others (that way I could hide the author from all “page” Post Types but not from “post” post types).
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.1 Bug Fixed: $_GET[‘page’] in enqueue_styles() and enqueue_scripts() now sanitized; NonceVerification suppressed with explanation Bug Fixed: settings-updated $_GET check in dashboard partial annotated with NonceVerificatio 2.1
- — Version 2.0 Bug Fixed : WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput.OutputNotEscaped Bug Fixed: WordPress.WP.I18n.MissingArgDomain Bug Fixed: outdated_tested_upto_header Compatibility check up to version 7.0 2.0
- — Version 1.2.9 Compatibility check up to version 6.8 1.2.9
- — Version 1.2.8 Compatibility check up to version 6.5 1.2.8
- — Version 1.2.7 Compatibility check up to version 6.4 1.2.7
- — Version 1.2.6 Compatibility check up to version 6.1 1.2.6
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 1 at 90% or more
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
4 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Hide/Remove Metadata is a free WordPress plugin that helps you hide author and published date either by CSS..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("perfect for", "if you want").
- ! 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 1,076 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-10-25 30K+ → 20K+ down after 1162 days in tier
- 2022-08-20 20K+ → 30K+ up after 245 days in tier
- 2021-12-18 10K+ → 20K+ up after 123 days in tier
- 2021-08-17 6K+ → 10K+ up after 372 days in tier
- 2020-08-10 5K+ → 6K+ 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).
- W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags B
-
WP Author, Date and Meta Remover 10K+ installs · 3.5★ · 3 shared tags D -
Disable Media Pages 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Remove admin menus by role 8K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A - R Remove Widget Titles 6K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags D
- R Remove Author Pages 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Hide/Remove Metadata into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/hide-metadata" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Hide/Remove Metadata — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Hide/Remove Metadata: 20K+ active installs, 3.6★ (14 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/hide-metadata
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