Hide Trackbacks
by Sander van Dragt · Security
Prevents trackbacks and pingbacks from showing up as comments on posts.
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
A 85/100
Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈380 estimated
Momentum
+23%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “pingbacks” to your wp.org tags. You rank #23 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed it's a slot worth spending.
85 health vs 66 average across 1,776 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.6%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 19.1K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,060 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security 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 80 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.7★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.16★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 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.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
17%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
+0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| trackbacks | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| trackback your tag | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| pingback your tag | #24 | #22 | down 5 |
| pingbacks | #23 | #21 | down 2 |
| hide comments | #15 | #21 | down 3 |
| hide posts | #23 | #23 | 0 |
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
12 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 6 listed. 6 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
- Add “pingbacks” to your wp.org tags. You rank #23 for it without listing it, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed it's a slot worth spending.
- Slipping on “pingback”. Down 5 places since 2026-09-18, now #24. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 451 · 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.
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
3mo ago
latest release · v1.1.8 · 13 Aug 2026
12
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 4 months ago and the previous band took 16 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 400.
Install history since 9 May 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ chrissmit10.1y ago
This plugin simply does what it says it does. And that’s the way I like it 😉 Thanks
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ extremecarver10.4y ago
could get an update just to tell it’s still working…
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Brianna Deleasa11.8y ago
It did exactly what I needed it to do: remove the pingbacks from post comments and also update the comment count accordingly. Thank you very much!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tom Ryan12.2y ago
Thanks for creating this plug in! I do not understand why this is not a standard feature in WP core.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ thebrain3612.4y ago
This simple, awesome plug-in works very well, except the heading text “Trackbacks” is still displayed. Get rid of this and I give it 5 stars!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Alicia Kolesnikova12.7y ago
Got rid of old trackbacks even in WordPress v 3.8.1. Still got it.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.3
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 28 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 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 431 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "spam" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-07-10 400+ → 300+ down after 465 days in tier
- 2025-04-01 500+ → 400+ down after 4 days in tier
- 2025-03-28 400+ → 500+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-03-26 500+ → 400+ down after 159 days in tier
- 2024-10-18 600+ → 500+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2024-10-16 500+ → 600+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-10-14 600+ → 500+ down after 17 days in tier
- 2024-09-27 500+ → 600+ up after 1 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).
-
Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A - C Cookies for Comments 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
- T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A
-
No Self Ping 10K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Hide Trackbacks into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/hide-trackbacks" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Hide Trackbacks — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Hide Trackbacks: 300+ active installs, 4.7★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/hide-trackbacks
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