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Imposter

by Damian Gostomski · Admin & Utilities

Also makes 1 other plugin · 70+ installs across the portfolio →

Free audit wp.org ↗

Allows administrators to take on the role of another user for development, testing and troubleshooting purposes without knowing the users password.

⚠ Stale⚠ Likely abandoned⚠ Few reviews
How scoring works →
45 Health · D
Maintenance 3/100
Rating quality 74/100
Support 70/100

45 health vs 54 average across 3,792 Admin & Utilities plugins

10+

Active installs

≈17 estimated

2.8K

Total downloads

since 2012

3.99★

Rating (adjusted)

4.3★ raw · 3 reviews

+5%

58

Downloads · 30d

category median +20%

High removal-risk signals

63/100

Maintenance 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 14+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
  • Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.3.2, well behind 6.8.

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.

32 / 100

Under-optimized

Biggest win: Update recency

Update recency 0/100
WP compatibility 1/100
Rating quality 53/100
Listing tuning 84/100

To rank higher: Last updated 5299 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.

Get the full rank-higher report →

Daily downloads

Since 2022-10-05 · 1,426 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+5% vs prior 30d
1Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

58

now · peak 155

5830d downloads · Aug 26

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

Imposter · #29174 you Login as User · #1018 WP Last Login · #2043 WP Approve User · #3873

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.

5.8Kper 1k installs · Aug 26

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share 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.

v0.1 100%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “10+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
10–20 ≈17

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2022-10-04 · 1,378 observations

10Installs · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from.

Ratings · 3 reviews

Read on wp.org ↗
5★
2 4★
0 3★
1 2★
0 1★
0

Details

Version
0.1
Last updated
14.5y ago
Added
2012-02-27 · 14 yrs old
Requires WP
3.0
Tested up to
3.3.2
Requires PHP
—
Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ wallee
    10.8y ago

    Still works for me, despite the fact that I’ve gone thru 10 wordpress updates since I first installed! Goes to show how well coded it is, despite that it is no longer maintained. Too bad all plugins can’t be this good.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ taropaa
    11.8y ago

    This plugin saved me hours each week, not having to create similar accounts to debug issues. Too bad it stopped working and is no longer maintained 🙁

    Read on wp.org ↗
  3. ★★★★★ Dutch van Andel
    12.3y ago

    Imposter still works, despite having been abandoned for nearly 3 years. For an up-to-date plugin that serves the same purpose, check out User Switching instead.

    Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3.2

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✓ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2025-12-11 20+ → 10+ down after 146 days in tier
  2. 2025-07-18 30+ → 20+ down after 177 days in tier
  3. 2025-01-22 40+ → 30+ down after 1 days in tier
  4. 2025-01-21 30+ → 40+ up after 12 days in tier
  5. 2025-01-09 40+ → 30+ down after 418 days in tier
  6. 2023-11-18 50+ → 40+ down after 3 days in tier
  7. 2023-11-15 40+ → 50+ up after 2 days in tier
  8. 2023-11-13 50+ → 40+ down 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).

Compare head to head →

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Preview card ↗

Imposter: 10+ active installs, 4.3★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/imposter