Lightweight Social Icons
by Tom · Social
Also makes 4 other plugins · 370K+ installs across the portfolio →
Looking to add simple social icons to your widget areas? Choose the size and color of your icons, and then choose from 47 different social profiles.
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 51/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
20K+
≈30K estimated
Momentum
+38%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “social icon widget”, “social icons” and “social media” 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.
51 health vs 58 average across 1,835 Social plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.3%
of downloads still active
At least 20K of 468.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Social plugin keeps 0.5%, across 1,277 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Social plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 6+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.4.25.
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 2419 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.4.25; the current branch is 6.8
4.7★ over 63 reviews, smoothed to 4.43★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2419 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.
31
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 18d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 18d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| social icon widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social networking your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social profiles your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
6 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 6 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “social icon widget”, “social icons” and “social media” 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 4K · 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
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
6.6y ago
latest release · v1.1 · 18 Mar 2020
12
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 93% 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 7 days ago and the previous band took 12 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 30K.
Install history since 1 Sep 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Mahesh Pant3.9y ago
I don’t recommend this plugin at all. It signs a useless font which is not displayed in the front end to the users but creates core web vitals issues on the back end. The font name is fontello.woff and it is seen nowhere on the front end. Deleting or adding display swap on the font stylesheet also does not works. Moreover, they are two stylesheets and cannot decide which stylesheet is used. I don’t recommend using this plugin unless it is the last option to use.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jimmy Lee4.5y ago
Hasn’t been updated but super light and solid!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Hematoma4.8y ago
Tom never fails to make amazing plugins and this social icons plugin is no different. I just hope that there are plans to add a discord icon in the near future. 5/5 plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Damian Partha5.0y ago
This is one of the best social icons plugins out there. But I will cut one star because it lacks the social icon for Tik Tok, one of the fastest-growing social media out there.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ teropesonen5.1y ago
This has been great, but currently does not appear to be compatible with WordPress version 5.8.1
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Rostyslav5.1y ago
TOM PLEASE ADD GOOGLE MY BUSINESS ICON
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jan Grube5.6y ago
This Plugin helped me for a fast creation of my page. Also it has a lot of icons. For my personal use, there is actually one icon missing. And thats the one for patreon. Is it possible to add this in the next version?
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ davidandrewsmithjr6.0y ago
This plugin does exactly what I want and keeps my page speed score at 100.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.1 Add rel=”noopener noreferrer” to links opening in new windows 1.1
- — Version 1.0.1 Fix styling issue with themes that don’t add widget ID 1.0.1
- — Version 1.0 Code cleanup Fix widget controls in the Customizer Fix compatibility error with Site Origin Page Builder Fix color picker labels Use flexbox for admin controls 1.0
- — Version 0.9 Fix a couple stray PHP notices New icon: Snapchat New icon: Trip Advisor New icon: Houzz New icon: Mixcloud New icon: Last.fm Updated icon: Google+ Updated icon: Instagram Remove query strings from font Update text domai 0.9
- — Version 0.8 Fix incompatibility with Custom Sidebars plugin Hide empty fields by default – click “Add Icon” button to show more fields Alphabetize list of icons Disable open in new window with email/contact button New icon: Xing New 0.8
- — Version 0.7 Fix warning 0.7
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 81 languages, 11 at 90% or more
Plus 57 more locales with partial translations.
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 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Looking to add simple social icons to your widget areas? Choose the size and color of your icons, and then..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 5 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 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 Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and 4 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 2 lists.
- ! Enough to quote 995 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "social media", "social networking" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-25 30K+ → 20K+ down after 366 days in tier
- 2025-10-24 40K+ → 30K+ down after 614 days in tier
- 2024-02-18 50K+ → 40K+ down after 310 days in tier
- 2023-04-14 60K+ → 50K+ down after 1017 days in tier
- 2020-07-01 50K+ → 60K+ up after 424 days in tier
- 2019-05-04 40K+ → 50K+ up after 428 days in tier
- 2018-03-02 30K+ → 40K+ up after 692 days in tier
- 2016-04-09 20K+ → 30K+ up after 213 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).
-
Socials Ignited 2K+ installs · 4.0★ · 4 shared tags C -
SX Social Icons 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 4 shared tags -
Simple Social Icons 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A -
Fuse Social Icons 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
WP Social Widget 4K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags C -
Social Icons Sticky 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Lightweight Social Icons into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/lightweight-social-icons" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Lightweight Social Icons — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Lightweight Social Icons: 20K+ active installs, 4.7★ (63 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/lightweight-social-icons
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