Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content
by Hossni Mubarak · Login & Users
Also makes 13 other plugins · 6.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
Cool Author Box displays an responsive author box with social media links to your widget and post content area.
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 86/100
Few reviews
Active installs
500+
≈600 estimated
Momentum
+62%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “author profile” and “author social icons” for “biography” and “author description”. “author profile” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “biography” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “author social icons” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “author description” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
86 health vs 61 average across 2,206 Login & Users plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.4%
of downloads still active
At least 500 of 14.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Login & Users plugin keeps 0.7%, across 1,477 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Login & Users 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 1 release 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 42 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ 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.
37
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
19%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| cool author bio | #1 | #4 | — |
| responsive author box | #3 | #17 | up 1 |
| cool | #4 | #19 | 0 |
| author box your tag | #7 | #19 | down 1 |
| author info your tag | #7 | #18 | 0 |
| biography | #4 | #9 | 0 |
| cool social widget | #3 | #18 | 0 |
| author bio your tag | #9 | #18 | 0 |
| author meta box | #5 | #19 | 0 |
| author social icons your tag | #17 | #24 | down 5 |
| bio box | #6 | #19 | up 1 |
| twitter profile box | #6 | #23 | — |
| author profile your tag | #17 | #23 | down 3 |
| author description | #11 | #18 | 0 |
| flip box widget | #7 | #19 | 0 |
| author | #23 | #22 | down 4 |
| box | #24 | #22 | 0 |
| simple author box | #9 | #23 | 0 |
| wordpress author bio | #10 | #18 | 0 |
| info box | #11 | #22 | up 1 |
110 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 79 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Swap “author profile” and “author social icons” for “biography” and “author description”. “author profile” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “biography” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “author social icons” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #17. “author description” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- Slipping on “author social icons”. Down 5 places since 2026-09-19, now #17. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 675 · 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
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.
1
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v3.0.3 · 13 Jun 2026
28
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 88% 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 “500+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 600.
Install history since 19 Jan 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ oloyede3.0y ago
It comes handy for my recent project. Nice and simple, will highly recommend
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Henrik Falk Malling7.1y ago
I looked for a long time after an author box. Why? My first attempt to create an author box in the left sidebar was using an image widget for the portrait and a text widget for the author description. It worked reasonably well, but the result was not very intuitive from a user design perspective. I just got two widgets that seemed unrelated, because I had several other widget as well in the sidebar. Then I tried to find a plugin that could do the work. And I found this plugin which had a border that nicely surrounded my author information including photo. I had a few features though that I was missing. I wrote to the author carefully and he implemented the features in a few days. I was really surprised and overwhelmed. It was a fantastic experience and now I think the plugin have all the features a author box plugin should have. I am not using the feature with social buttons but I think it is a nice feature if you need it. I really recommend this plugin for all users that likes a user interface designed plugin that does what a author box should do.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (3.0.3). Sites still on an older version should update.
- 2023-07-18 CVE-2023-33999 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.9.4 Patched in 2.9.5
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
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 "Cool Author Box displays an responsive author box with social media links to your widget and post content a..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 5 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Stripe, Facebook.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 6 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,731 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "Author Profile", "author social icons" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-21 600+ → 500+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-20 500+ → 600+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-19 600+ → 500+ down after 182 days in tier
- 2026-04-20 500+ → 600+ up after 16 days in tier
- 2026-04-04 600+ → 500+ down after 169 days in tier
- 2025-10-17 700+ → 600+ down after 41 days in tier
- 2025-09-06 600+ → 700+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-09-04 700+ → 600+ down after 56 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).
-
Simple Author Box 90K+ installs · 4.2★ · 4 shared tags A -
WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 4 shared tags B -
Smart Author Box Widget 60+ installs · 3.6★ · 4 shared tags -
Magic Author Box — installs · 3.6★ · 4 shared tags -
Authorsy – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Post Rating 1K+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags -
Author Box WP Lens 900+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/hm-cool-author-box-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content: 500+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/hm-cool-author-box-widget
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