Pixeline’s Email Protector
by pixeline · Security
Also makes 2 other plugins · 1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Write email addresses without worrying about spambots and email harvesters.
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 86/100
Few reviews
Active installs
900+
≈900 estimated
Momentum
+52%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “antispam” and “email” for “spambots” and “spambot”. “antispam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spambots” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “email” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spambot” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
86 health vs 66 average across 1,776 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.8%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 23.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,059 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security 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 3 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 2 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ 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.
42
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
+0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
21%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
+0.5
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| protector | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| obfuscate your tag | #5 | #6 | 0 |
| mailto your tag | #7 | #14 | up 1 |
| spambots | #6 | #8 | 0 |
| spambot | #7 | #8 | 0 |
| antispam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| email your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
28 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 23 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “antispam” and “email” for “spambots” and “spambot”. “antispam” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spambots” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “email” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spambot” sits at #7 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 758 · 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.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
3
releases in the last 12 months
2d ago
latest release · v1.5.0 · 29 Oct 2026
5
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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 900.
Install history since 20 Feb 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ itforme1.0y ago
I was looking for an alternative, more up-to-date plugin. All the others haven’t released any updates for quite some time. Now I have an up-to-date plugin to protect my emails again. It works as described and expected.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ardalanme9.1y ago
Thanks for creating this plugin! It works great. There are a couple of features, however, that I think should be added. Otherwise, bots will soon learn how to parse the emails you’re protecting. 1. The class name should be customizable on the settings page. 2. The parenthesis should be included in the text that the admin is able to customize. Without these 2 changes, it’s very easy to write a regex that extracts emails. This topic was modified 8 years, 9 months ago by ardalanme.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sound View9.6y ago
This plugin ended up working great for me. Initially I had already coded the mailto links. I had used the email address as the text to link to, so that was a problem. I was able to resolve that my removing the mailto link and keeping only the email address and that worked perfectly. Now all email addresses added to the site will be protected. thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ jimmyppi10.0y ago
You can also config the text that replaces @ This topic was modified 9 years, 9 months ago by jimmyppi.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sigurdvt10.9y ago
I maintain a web site that has addresses of an organization’s board members. Wanting to better protect them from spam, I tried this plugin and am quite pleased. On the WordPress “Edit Page” for the page in question I enter email addresses in the form [email protected]([Click here to send])* The plugin takes everything in the parentheses and displays that as the link. I’ve told the board members that if they’d prefer, I can do something like myname [at] myorg [dot] com or any variation they’d prefer, for their email address. At the bottom of the page in question I added the text * This site uses an “anonymizer” to protect email addresses from spammers. Click on the text if you want to send someone an email. In many browsers, moving the pointer to the link will give you a popup that displays the actual email address (preceded by “mailto:”).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ CH3man11.0y ago
The Email Protector plugin is useful but needs amending – domain extensions can now exceed 4 characters in length. e.g. .london
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ treesfoundation11.9y ago
Bottom line is, I’m glad it’s working with the latest WP! And I hope it truly obfuscates (you can’t visibly tell if it really does hide anything from spambots). I used it out of the box, and also with my theme in the PHP file, like so: echo '<span class="pep-email" title="E-mail">'.$p_email.'</span>'; (Where $p_email was a custom fields variable.)
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Marcy12.8y ago
This works as promised in the content. In the plugin settings you choose the text you want to have in parenthesis that replace the @. And that’s it! It just works. Because of the way it works, it will also affect the email address used by the Jetpack contact form. You will need to use another contact form if you use this plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (1.5.0). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 4.4 Pixeline's Email Protector <= 1.3.8 - Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2025-09-09 CVE-2025-58982 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.3.8 Patched in 1.4.0
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.2
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
2 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you need"); say who the plugin is for and 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 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,637 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "obfuscate" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-28 800+ → 900+ up after 6 days in tier
- 2026-10-22 900+ → 800+ down after 20 days in tier
- 2026-10-02 800+ → 900+ up after 101 days in tier
- 2026-06-23 900+ → 800+ down after 26 days in tier
- 2026-05-28 800+ → 900+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-27 900+ → 800+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-26 800+ → 900+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-25 900+ → 800+ down after 45 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 Mailto Links – Protect Email Addresses 7K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags D -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
WP Mail Logging 300K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
hCaptcha for WP 70K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Spam Protection | Maspik 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Pixeline’s Email Protector into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/pixelines-email-protector" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Pixeline’s Email Protector — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Pixeline’s Email Protector: 900+ active installs, 4.3★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/pixelines-email-protector
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