No Category Parents
by Sergio Milardovich · SEO
Also makes 5 other plugins · 8K+ installs across the portfolio →
Removes the mandatory 'Category Base' and every parent category from your category permalinks.
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
A 85/100
Few reviews
Active installs
6K+
≈6.5K estimated
Momentum
-13%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “permalinks”, “seo” and “categories” for “category permalinks”, “mandatory” and “category”. “permalinks” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “category permalinks” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mandatory” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “categories” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #23. “category” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
85 health vs 65 average across 2,230 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →7.7%
of downloads still active
At least 6K of 77.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,194 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO 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 2 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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 62 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.15★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
37
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
+0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
13%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| category parents your tag | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| parents | #1 | #5 | 0 |
| parent category | #1 | #4 | 0 |
| parent | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| category base your tag | #3 | #14 | 0 |
| category permalinks | #5 | #17 | 0 |
| mandatory | #6 | #17 | 0 |
| parent and child categories | #3 | #14 | 0 |
| category | #10 | #21 | 0 |
| remove category base | #5 | #21 | 0 |
| parent page | #8 | #18 | up 2 |
| categories your tag | #23 | #24 | up 1 |
| short url | #16 | #23 | down 1 |
| by category | #10 | #21 | 0 |
| the category | #10 | #22 | 0 |
| category seo | #14 | #21 | 0 |
| page category | #14 | #24 | up 2 |
| category page | #15 | #24 | — |
| category in page | #15 | #24 | up 1 |
| wordpress category | #17 | #24 | 0 |
| permalinks your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
72 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 45 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
- Swap “permalinks”, “seo” and “categories” for “category permalinks”, “mandatory” and “category”. “permalinks” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “category permalinks” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “mandatory” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “categories” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #23. “category” sits at #10 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 · 1,490 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
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.
2
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v0.3.1 · 1 Sep 2026
8
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “6K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 8 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 10 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ jakubd9.2y ago
Simple plugin, that really works! ;o)
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Vercio11.2y ago
everything you need
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ SR-Vaa11.6y ago
This plugin does exactly what it means to. Perfect.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 0.2.4.1 Quickfix: fixed pagination bug 0.2.4.1
- — Version 0.2.4 Tested up to WP 4.1 Fixed pagination problem (special thanks to Lukáš Wojnar). 0.2.4
- — Version 0.2.3 Changed some links. Fixed “empty category” problem (special thanks to absolutex). 0.2.3
- — Version 0.2.2 In 0.2.1 when the “Category Base” field wasn’t empty the plugin didn’t work. Now the “Category Base” field will automatically be empty when you activate the plugin. 0.2.2
- — Version 0.2.1 Minor changes in the comments. 0.2.1
- — Version 0.2 The plugin now works with the permastruct /%category%/ and also replaces the post permalinks. Other minor fixes. 0.2
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
1 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Removes the mandatory 'Category Base' and every parent category from your category permalinks."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! 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 487 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("categories", "category parents", "seo" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-03-17 7K+ → 6K+ down after 13 days in tier
- 2026-03-04 6K+ → 7K+ up after 34 days in tier
- 2026-01-29 7K+ → 6K+ down after 10 days in tier
- 2026-01-19 6K+ → 7K+ up after 13 days in tier
- 2026-01-06 7K+ → 6K+ down after 21 days in tier
- 2025-12-16 6K+ → 7K+ up after 290 days in tier
- 2025-03-01 5K+ → 6K+ up after 54 days in tier
- 2025-01-06 6K+ → 5K+ down after 7 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).
-
Remove Category URL – Remove ‘category’ base from category permalinks 40K+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags A -
Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for No Category Parents into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/no-category-parents" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="No Category Parents — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> No Category Parents: 6K+ active installs, 5.0★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/no-category-parents
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