NHS Blocks
by NHS Leadership Academy Digital Team · Blocks
Also makes 1 other plugin · 700+ installs across the portfolio →
NHS styled blocks for WordPress as developed by the NHS Leadership Academy based on the NHS Digital Front-end library.
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 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
400+
≈400 estimated
Momentum
+5%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “blocks” and “gutenberg” 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.
83 health vs 71 average across 2,522 Blocks plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.6%
of downloads still active
At least 400 of 25K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Blocks plugin keeps 2.1%, across 1,577 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Blocks 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 8 releases 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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Support resolution
Updated 3 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
4.5★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
0 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.
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.
57
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 22d
63%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 22d
+0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| nhs your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| academy | #11 | #19 | up 1 |
| blocks your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| gutenberg your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
13 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 2 listed. 11 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “blocks” and “gutenberg” 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 1.6K · 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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
8
releases in the last 12 months
3d ago
latest release · v1.4.4 · 28 Oct 2026
49
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 “400+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 7 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 400.
Install history since 6 Apr 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Michael Turner6.2y ago
This is a very useful plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ danielshaw6.5y ago
Kudos to Tony Blacker & the NHS leadership team for making this available for us all, and their long-term commitment to doing the necessary updates. There are a lot of user-friendly blocks here that you’ll have trouble finding elsewhere.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 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
4 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 "NHS styled blocks for WordPress as developed by the NHS Leadership Academy based on the NHS Digital Front-e..."
- ! 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 Mentions Gutenberg.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,042 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 3 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-24 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-23 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-21 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-20 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-18 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-10-17 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-15 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-13 400+ → 300+ down after 26 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).
-
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Extendify 500K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Page Builder Gutenberg Blocks – CoBlocks 300K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags B -
GenerateBlocks 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for NHS Blocks into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/nhsblocks" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="NHS Blocks — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> NHS Blocks: 400+ active installs, 4.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/nhsblocks
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