Native Emoji
by Danny BS · Uncategorized
Insert emojis in your posts, pages, custom post types, and comments
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 43/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
5K+
≈5.5K estimated
Momentum
+33%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “comments”, “emoji” and “emoji comments” 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.
43 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.8%
of downloads still active
At least 5K of 63.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,765 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.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance 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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35, well behind 6.8.
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 3050 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.9.35; the current branch is 6.8
3.7★ over 19 reviews, smoothed to 3.99★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3050 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.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| emoji your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| emoji comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| emoticons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
4 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 4 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
- “comments”, “emoji” and “emoji comments” 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.5K · 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
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
8.4y ago
latest release · v3.0.1 · 25 Jun 2018
6
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 “5K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 10 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 5 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Back to Front5.5y ago
I really love it, great emoji picker loads on the back end, but doesn’t allow me to pick anything, and messes up the TinyMCE editor display. On the front end bbpress forms it gives ‘failed to initialise error. But I can see what it used to do and how cool it would have been, I wish someone can bring it back 🧞♀️
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Lancifer6.1y ago
Clicking on the emoji icon opens the window, but emojis never load. Hasn’t been updated in 2 years. Author most likely abandoned this plugin. Deserves 0 stars.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Vic6.2y ago
Эй, ребят. Посоветуйте мне такой же плагин, но с SVG. Он очень хороший, но есть подводные камни.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sakoryu6.4y ago
絵文字が読み込まれません。 デベロッパーのサイトも警告が出ます。 他のプラグインをおすすめします。
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ stevie20126.9y ago
Wanted use this as it looked better than other Emoji plugins, but once you try to load inside the editor, it just keeps on loading and never stops = can’t even use the Emoji plugin. Had to uninstall.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Shivanand Sharma7.1y ago
I find it very handy to build “emotion” in the post. I’d love to have a feature to show the name of the emoji on hover so I know what kind of expression the emoji has. I’m not native English so I need a little tooltip on every emoji. How about a search box while we are at it? Superb work!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ medinfe8.0y ago
Very simple and works perfect in my case with the last wordpress version 4.9 I’m missing a tab with “favorites” or “most used” or similar…
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tiago8.1y ago
It would be great if it could include a tab for Favorites and (if possible) Frequently Used 😀
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 3.0.1 Release Date – 24 June 2018 Minor bugs fixed 3.0.1
- — Version 3.0 Release Date – 18 December 2017 New Design Front End Comments Support Settings Page New Emojis Added Emoji Skin Tone Picker 3.0
- — Version 2.0.2 Release Date – 26 June 2016 Translation support added Minor Bug Fixes 2.0.2
- — Version 2.0.1 Release Date – 24 June 2016 Minor Bug Fixes 2.0.1
- — Version 2.0 Release Date – 24 June 2016 Minor Bug Fixes New Design New Emojis Added Category Frequently Used Added Reordered Categories 2.0
- — Version 1.0 Release Date – 1 July 2015 Hello World! 1.0
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 10 languages, 7 at 90% or more
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 30 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Insert emojis in your posts, pages, custom post types, and comments"
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! 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 2 headings and 1 list.
- ! Enough to quote 939 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("emoji comments", "emoticons", "icons" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-12-30 6K+ → 5K+ down after 356 days in tier
- 2025-01-08 7K+ → 6K+ down after 367 days in tier
- 2024-01-07 8K+ → 7K+ down after 401 days in tier
- 2022-12-02 9K+ → 8K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2022-12-01 8K+ → 9K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2022-11-30 9K+ → 8K+ down after 307 days in tier
- 2022-01-27 10K+ → 9K+ down after 955 days in tier
- 2019-06-17 800+ → 10K+ up after 1181 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).
-
wp-Monalisa 600+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags B -
TinyMCE Smiley Button 600+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D -
Compressed Emoji 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A - E Emoji Emoticons 100+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Disable Comments 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Native Emoji into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/native-emoji" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Native Emoji — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Native Emoji: 5K+ active installs, 3.7★ (19 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/native-emoji
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