NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget
by maff · Media
Also makes 2 other plugins · 590+ installs across the portfolio →
A widget to show NextGEN galleries in your sidebar.
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 45/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
500+
≈570 estimated
Momentum
—
no download trend yet
Biggest opportunity: “gallery”, “image” and “photo” 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.
45 health vs 62 average across 3,278 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.5%
of downloads still active
At least 500 of 109.5K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,317 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media 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 14+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.3.2, 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 5381 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.3.2; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 5381 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| gallery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| image your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| photo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| picture your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widgets your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 2 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
- “gallery”, “image” and “photo” 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 169 · 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
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
14.7y ago
latest release · v0.4.3 · 6 Feb 2012
14
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 96% 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 “500+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 70% of the way through.
Install history since 22 Oct 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ TheMadWiddler120011.9y ago
Even though this plug-in has not been updated in 2 years, it still works great! Thanks to the developer of this plug-in!! 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ninadegibraltar13.5y ago
Great
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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
4 of 8 pass · checked 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "A widget to show NextGEN galleries in your sidebar."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you have", "use cases").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 4 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,526 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "photo", "picture" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-07-14 600+ → 500+ down after 187 days in tier
- 2026-01-08 700+ → 600+ down after 181 days in tier
- 2025-07-11 800+ → 700+ down after 112 days in tier
- 2025-03-21 900+ → 800+ down after 158 days in tier
- 2024-10-14 1K+ → 900+ down after 741 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 3K+ → 1K+ down
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).
-
Firelight Lightbox 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags A -
LightPress Lightbox 40K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags B -
Easy Watermark 30K+ installs · 3.8★ · 3 shared tags C -
WP Colorbox 5K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags B -
Easy Image Collage 3K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A -
Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/nextgen-gallery-sidebar-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> NextGEN Gallery Sidebar Widget: 500+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/nextgen-gallery-sidebar-widget
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.