MakeStories (for Google Web Stories)
by Pratik Ghela · Uncategorized
MakeStories helper plugin to publish stories for your WordPress site
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 80/100
Open vulnerability
Active installs
600+
≈650 estimated
Momentum
+5%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: Swap “amp” for “helper plugin”. “amp” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “helper plugin” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.6%
of downloads still active
At least 600 of 100.4K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,781 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 118 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11; the current branch is 7.1
4.3★ over 28 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.2★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
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, 27d
8%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| makestories your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| web stories your tag | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| amp story your tag | #3 | #5 | down 1 |
| stories your tag | #6 | #11 | down 1 |
| web story | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| amp stories | #4 | #6 | 0 |
| helper plugin | #13 | #15 | down 1 |
| helper | #14 | #12 | 0 |
| wordpress helper | #13 | #14 | down 1 |
| story | #14 | #20 | up 1 |
| amp your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
12 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 10 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “amp” for “helper plugin”. “amp” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “helper plugin” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,491 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 5.5K · 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
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
4mo ago
latest release · v3.0.5 · 8 Jul 2026
1
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 83% 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 “600+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 29 Aug 2019
Reviewer account pattern
from wp.org reviewer profiles19 of the last 23 four- and five-star reviews came from accounts created within a month of posting the review, and 16 of those landed between 2020-09-27 and 2020-10-16.
Registering a wp.org account just to leave a review is common and often entirely legitimate. The share here is unusually high for the sample, so it's worth keeping in mind while reading the reviews.
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ danishjk3.3y ago
make stories wordpress plugin is not working properly from the last 2 months, I have tried many times to access the dashboard but the plugin always show error. Make Stories team is requested to resolve this issue from back end as soon as possible Thanking you
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kcalpesh4.1y ago
Everything is alright with this plugin and it works beautifully barring some suggestions I made in my previous review. There’s a new issue I’m facing right now and it’s about the LCP. On Google Search Console, all my webstories are marked as “Needs Improvement” and since the time this notificaiton shot up, my web stories traffic has gone down from 40k-50k to almost 0. I’ve checked the other aspects like google webstories guidelines etc and I don’t think I have any policy violations. There are no AMP errors. This LCP being high (3.2s) is the only point that seems to be a hindrance. Unfortunately I am unable to find any solution unless the developers have something to suggest. Hi, is there no support available for this plugin anymore? Thanks. This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by kcalpesh. Reason: Faced Issue After a Good Run This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by kcalpesh.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sandeep Jinagal4.8y ago
.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sb127595.2y ago
Great support from Pratik!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ evergreendigital5.6y ago
If you’re not up on how popular stories are, you’re sleeping! My team and more importantly clients love what we’ve been able to do for them. I’ve even ran into a couple road blocks along the way, and the MakeStories team has always been quick to help me out. And the results speak for themselves. Thanks MakeStories! Looking forward to the future!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ t0m4u5.6y ago
Google’s own Web Stories plugin cannot match this storytelling tool. Google may not care as long as people craft Google web stories any which way they can. Makestories is utterly enjoyable to work with, it just needs a bit more documentation. However, wonder where my story actually sits and what happens to my content.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sena5.6y ago
This plugin make the server down, when you try to publish a story. I debug it, and discover, a script that try to import all images from external server, and if there is a lot large images, this issue will happen
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ suryansht5.7y ago
I started using this plug-in 1.5 months ago after giving up on the official web stories plug-in due to the plethora of bugs it has. This software is so good, that it surprises me that its still in beta and is free. My team hit 100 web stories made on this tool last week. It covered everything we needed from design tooling, to analytics, to ads, to scale of traffic hitting 1M pageviews on makestories hosted content. On top of this the integration with wordpress is almost flawless, and the founders are very responsive to any query at any hour of the day. Overall 10/10. Keep it Up.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence Intelligence1 open vulnerability affects the current version (3.0.5). 3 of 4 disclosed are patched.
- 2022-07-06 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.6.4 Patched in 2.6.5
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 2 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "MakeStories helper plugin to publish stories for your WordPress 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 261 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "Amp Story" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-06 700+ → 600+ down after 84 days in tier
- 2026-02-11 800+ → 700+ down after 63 days in tier
- 2025-12-10 900+ → 800+ down after 53 days in tier
- 2025-10-18 1K+ → 900+ down after 394 days in tier
- 2024-09-19 2K+ → 1K+ down after 153 days in tier
- 2024-04-19 3K+ → 2K+ down after 93 days in tier
- 2024-01-17 4K+ → 3K+ down after 102 days in tier
- 2023-10-07 5K+ → 4K+ down after 99 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).
-
Web Stories 60K+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags C -
Web Stories Enhancer – Level Up Your Web Stories 200+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags C -
ZMOOZ Web Stories 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags -
Pixel & tracking codes for Google Web stories (formerly AMP Stories) 20+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for MakeStories (for Google Web Stories) into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/makestories-helper" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="MakeStories (for Google Web Stories) — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> MakeStories (for Google Web Stories): 600+ active installs, 4.3★ (28 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/makestories-helper
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