Virtual Robots.txt
by Marios Alexandrou · Uncategorized
Also makes 6 other plugins · 174.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Virtual Robots.txt automatically creates a robots.txt file for your site. Your robots.txt file can be easily edited from the plugin settings page.
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 84/100
no flags
Active installs
40K+
≈47K estimated
Momentum
+21%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “edited”, “ftp” and “robot” to your wp.org tags. You rank #6, #21 and #22 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
84 health vs 58 average across 25,737 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →8.8%
of downloads still active
At least 40K of 457.1K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,770 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.
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: Rating quality
Updated 72 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ and held back under 25 reviews
2 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.
42
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
25%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.6
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| virtual | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| robots your tag | #4 | #7 | 0 |
| virtual site | #2 | #5 | 0 |
| edited | #6 | #15 | up 2 |
| references | #9 | #18 | down 1 |
| reference | #10 | #18 | down 1 |
| ftp | #21 | #23 | down 5 |
| robot | #22 | #16 | down 1 |
| robots.txt your tag | Not checked yet | ||
15 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 7 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “edited”, “ftp” and “robot” to your wp.org tags. You rank #6, #21 and #22 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 3.2K · 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.
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 92% 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 “40K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 6 months ago; the previous band took 18 months to cross, which places it about 70% of the way through.
Install history since 5 Aug 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ commexjimmy10mo ago
I have used this plugin for many years and never had a problem with it. So with that said, I do highly recommend it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ treysuttle3.1y ago
I had an issue that I believed was being caused by the plugin but the plugin author was very quick to help and clear up the issue. Great and helpful customer service – thanks! This topic was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by treysuttle.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Denis Creative5.1y ago
Simple and easy. Works perfectly.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ yorgosx7.9y ago
Works great and easy to use and customise. It already set by default the directories that need to be left out of Search Engines scanning/indexing… Very happy with it!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Josh Gellock8.6y ago
What I saw wasn’t what I got. The XML sitemap wasn’t included in the robots.txt file, even thought this was described as a feature that should work out of the box. In addition to that, upon installing this plugin, it blocked certain directories without asking. Lastly, it inserts a line at the top of the file, promoting the plugin. That should be an optional feature that users are empowered to turn off. All in all, it offers the functionality, but falls short and disappoints in other areas. This topic was modified 8 years, 4 months ago by Josh Gellock.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mm13799.6y ago
It was good
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Cassman9.8y ago
I thought this would be simple. Sure sounds simple. But after I saved your suggested text to my brand new “virtual robots.txt”, I clicked the link where it says “You can preview your robots.txt file here (opens a new window). If your robots.txt file doesn’t match what is shown below, you may have a physical file that is being displayed instead.” That new window shows text that is indeed different from the plugin’s. So I understand that to mean there’s a physical robots.txt file on my server. So which one is actually going to be used? Your FAQ offers this: Q: Will it conflict with any existing robots.txt file? A: If a physical robots.txt file exists on your site, WordPress won’t process any request for one, so there will be no conflict. If a physical file exists, WP won’t process ANY request for one? This SOUNDS like WP will ignore BOTH the physical file AND your virtual one. In which case, what’s the point? Might as well not have one, it seems to me. When I manually go to mydomain.com/robots.txt, I see what’s in the physical file, not what the plugin saved. So… is it working? I don’t know! Should I delete the physical file and assume the virtual one will work? I don’t know! Should I delete this plugin and edit the physical file manually? Most likely. 2 stars instead of 1 because I appreciate getting the suggested lines to include in my file.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ SEO Plugin Expert Florin10.0y ago
I like the fact that it’s so clean. Thanks for building it!
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.10 Fix to prevent the saving of HTML tags within the robots.txt form field. Thanks to TrustWave for identifying this issue. 1.10
- — Version 1.9 Fix for PHP 7. Thanks to SharmPRO. 1.9
- — Version 1.8 Undoing last fixes as they had unintended side-effects. 1.8
- — Version 1.7 Further fixes to issue with newlines being removed. Thanks to FAMC for reporting and for providing the code fix. After upgrading, visit and re-save your settings and confirm they look correct. 1.7
- — Version 1.6 Fixed bug where newlines were being removed. Thanks to FAMC for reporting. 1.6
- — Version 1.5 Fixed bug where plugin assumed robots.txt would be at http when it may reside at https. Thanks to jeffmcneill for reporting. 1.5
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.4.8 · WP 5.7
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 2 at 90% or more · development strings
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 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Virtual Robots.txt automatically creates a robots.txt file for your site. Your robots.txt file can be easil..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ! 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 506 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 2 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-16 50K+ → 40K+ down after 551 days in tier
- 2024-11-11 40K+ → 50K+ up after 21 days in tier
- 2024-10-21 50K+ → 40K+ down after 212 days in tier
- 2024-03-23 40K+ → 50K+ up after 600 days in tier
- 2022-08-01 50K+ → 40K+ down after 726 days in tier
- 2020-08-05 60K+ → 50K+ down after 234 days in tier
- 2019-12-15 50K+ → 60K+ up after 147 days in tier
- 2019-07-21 40K+ → 50K+ up after 760 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 Robots Txt 40K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Robots.txt Editor 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D -
Multipart robots.txt editor 1K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D -
Robots.txt rewrite 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D -
Magic robots.txt 1K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
Robots.txt Quick Editor 800+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Virtual Robots.txt into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/pc-robotstxt" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Virtual Robots.txt — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Virtual Robots.txt: 40K+ active installs, 4.3★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/pc-robotstxt
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