Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers)
by perron · Uncategorized
Instantly reloads the browser when theme or plugin files are edited, or when content is saved.
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 81/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈190 estimated
Momentum
-1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Rating quality scores 57/100. Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
81 health vs 58 average across 25,734 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.4%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 7.1K 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 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 143 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ 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.
34
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
9%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| live reload your tag | #1 | #4 | 0 |
| hot reload your tag | #1 | #2 | — |
| reload your tag | #3 | #11 | down 1 |
| hot | #5 | #9 | 0 |
| auto refresh your tag | #6 | #17 | down 1 |
| reloads | #5 | #21 | up 1 |
| refresh your tag | #7 | #14 | 0 |
| hot post | #5 | #11 | 0 |
| polling | #9 | #10 | up 1 |
| live streaming | #13 | #18 | down 1 |
| hot post plugin | #9 | #19 | down 2 |
| page refresh | #12 | #20 | down 1 |
| content refresh | #17 | #19 | 0 |
| post refresh | #19 | #20 | down 1 |
24 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 14 listed. 10 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Your five tags are all earning their place. Each gets you onto page 1 of its own search, so none is worth giving up. “reloads”, “polling” and “live streaming” (#5, #9 and #13 untagged) would be the next worth testing if a slot frees up.
Daily downloads
Since 26 Oct 2023 · 1,102 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.7K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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.
1
releases in the last 12 months
5mo ago
latest release · v4.2 · 10 Jun 2026
10
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 39% 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 “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2.1 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.
Install history since 25 Oct 2023
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
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
3 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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 7 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 5 of 7 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 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 825 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "auto refresh" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-10-05 90+ → 100+ up after 14 days in tier
- 2024-09-21 100+ → 90+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2024-09-19 90+ → 100+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2024-09-10 80+ → 90+ up after 29 days in tier
- 2024-08-12 70+ → 80+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-08-10 80+ → 70+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-08-09 70+ → 80+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-08-08 80+ → 70+ down after 10 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).
-
Force Refresh 4K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A -
Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B -
LH Fresh Content 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Reloadify Frontend Sync – Auto Reload, Server & Media Optimization — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags - R Reloadr for WordPress — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
-
Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers) into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/live-auto-refresh" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers) — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers): 100+ active installs, 4.3★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/live-auto-refresh
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