Nelio Featured Posts
by Nelio Software · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 8 other plugins · 8.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Select the featured posts you want to show at any time and include them in your theme using a widget.
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 48/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈360 estimated
Momentum
+2%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “featured post”, “manual featured posts” and “relevant post” 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.
48 health vs 56 average across 5,897 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.2%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 25.1K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,190 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities 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 6+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 5.3.27, 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 2529 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.3.27; the current branch is 6.8
4.8★ over 9 reviews, smoothed to 4.21★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2529 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| featured post your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| manual featured posts your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| relevant post your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| starred post your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “featured post”, “manual featured posts” and “relevant post” 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 132 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ 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 1 Nov 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
6.9y ago
latest release · v2.2.4 · 29 Nov 2019
12
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare 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.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 5 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 62% of the way through.
Install history since 15 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ godthor8.6y ago
The easiest featured post plugin I’ve come across. It’s easy to setup, and the templating system was perfect for my needs. I would give this 5 stars except for some styling issues related to default styles from the plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ rsmith43218.9y ago
This is just what I was looking for, simple and fast.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ CarlBateman9.4y ago
Fiddly to use. No instructions, so I had to resort to trial and error to get it to work. Only appears on main sidebar, couldn’t place it on front page. Only shows post title, no preview/summary.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cybmeta10.0y ago
I’ve tested several “featured posts” plugins and most of them use taxonomies; you need to edit the post to add or remove it from featured posts list, and with this action the last modified date of the post is updated as well, even if the content keeps unmodified. This was a serious issue for me, for SEO and for users: they see, in my opinion, a fake last modified date. I was thinking in building my own plugin using Options API, until I discovered Nelio Featured Posts, which use Options API to store the featured posts list. Thank you!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Alex10.3y ago
Exactly what I was looking for. Especially that it allows to have a custom template. Thank you!! THe only thing I (and hopefully others) could wish is to have a possibility of creating the lists of feature posts. So you’d have more flexibiliy to display one list at the frontpage and other somewhere else.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Mia10.8y ago
It does what it promises. Super simple.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ muchmuch1110.9y ago
Thanks for the plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hathhai11.1y ago
Worked perfectly with the latest WP version 4.3.1 Thanks the authors.
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 5 languages, 2 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 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Select the featured posts you want to show at any time and include them in your theme using a widget."
- ! 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 3 headings and 3 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,526 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("manual featured posts", "relevant post", "starred post" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-06-16 400+ → 300+ down after 17 days in tier
- 2026-05-30 300+ → 400+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2026-05-27 400+ → 300+ down after 359 days in tier
- 2025-06-02 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-01 400+ → 500+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-05-30 500+ → 400+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-05-28 400+ → 500+ up after 8 days in tier
- 2025-05-20 500+ → 400+ down after 2 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).
-
Feature A Page Widget 3K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags D -
Blocksy Companion 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Image Widget 100K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Nelio Featured Posts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/nelio-featured-posts" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Nelio Featured Posts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Nelio Featured Posts: 300+ active installs, 4.8★ (9 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/nelio-featured-posts
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