Popular Posts
by RobMarsh · Uncategorized
Also makes 5 other plugins · 2.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Popular Posts displays a list of your blog's most-viewed posts. The output can be customised in many ways.
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
800+
≈880 estimated
Momentum
—
no download trend yet
Biggest opportunity: “best”, “most viewed” and “popular” 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 58 average across 25,752 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 800 of 84.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,773 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.
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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 2.6.2, 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 3260 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 2.6.2; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3260 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| best your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| most viewed your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| popular your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| popular posts your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| posts your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “best”, “most viewed” and “popular” 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 160 · 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
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
18.2y ago
latest release · v2.6.2.0 · 9 Sep 2008
1
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% 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 “800+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 57 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 900.
Install history since 11 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Jem Turner8.5y ago
Does what it says on the tin – configurable list of popular posts that you can display as a widget or directly in the theme PHP. Works in WordPress 4.9.5 despite warnings to the contrary.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 65 languages, 0 at 90% or more
Plus 41 more locales with partial translations.
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 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Popular Posts displays a list of your blog's most-viewed posts. The output can be customised in many ways."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! 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 1 heading and 2 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 285 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "best" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-05 900+ → 800+ down after 143 days in tier
- 2026-04-15 1K+ → 900+ down after 8 days in tier
- 2026-04-07 900+ → 1K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-04-05 1K+ → 900+ down after 940 days in tier
- 2023-09-08 2K+ → 1K+ down after 339 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 3K+ → 2K+ down after 413 days in tier
- 2021-08-17 5K+ → 3K+ down after 741 days in tier
- 2019-08-07 20K+ → 5K+ 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).
-
WP Most Popular 1K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags D -
Popular Posts by Webline 1K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags C -
WP Popular Posts 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Most And Least Read Posts Widget 900+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Popular Widget 600+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D -
Advanced Related Posts 300+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Popular Posts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/popular-posts-plugin" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Popular Posts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Popular Posts: 800+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/popular-posts-plugin
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