Preferred Languages
by Pascal Birchler · Multilingual
Also makes 3 other plugins · 43.6K+ installs across the portfolio →
Choose languages for displaying WordPress in, in order of preference.
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 90/100
no flags
Active installs
3K+
≈3.1K estimated
Momentum
+10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “translation” and “localization” for “preference” and “locale”. “translation” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “preference” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “localization” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “locale” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
90 health vs 67 average across 495 Multilingual plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.6%
of downloads still active
At least 3K of 117.3K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Multilingual plugin keeps 0.8%, across 280 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Multilingual 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 75 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 18 reviews, smoothed to 4.34★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
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.
34
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.6
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
11%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| languages | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| preferred | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| internationalization your tag | #4 | #4 | down 1 |
| i18n your tag | #6 | #6 | 0 |
| preference | #7 | #8 | down 1 |
| language your tag | #12 | #18 | down 4 |
| locale | #10 | #11 | 0 |
| localization your tag | #24 | #23 | down 3 |
| site language | #19 | #17 | down 2 |
| translation your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
32 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 23 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “translation” and “localization” for “preference” and “locale”. “translation” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “preference” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “localization” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “locale” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “language”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 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
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
5mo ago
latest release · v2.4.2 · 25 May 2026
23
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 73% 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 “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 53 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 3K.
At the current install trend, crossing 4K+ in roughly 146 days.
Install history since 1 Aug 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ aelbo5mo ago
This is an excellent and very useful plugin. Must have!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ evZek3.6y ago
Es un plugin, imprescindible en cualquier instalación fuera del inglés.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ David Perez3.7y ago
Awesome plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Pieterjan Deneys3.8y ago
I honestly think that this should be a core feature of WP. The only thing wrong I notice is that when you are looking at the front end… The language of the admin bar changes into the site language but that’s the only issue I have with this plugin at the time of writing. For the rest, it’s a dream plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tangermaroc5.6y ago
a very cool plugin. this is a truely great plugin, You can use it for many purposes. It works great right out of the box, but is very easy to customize to suit your needs. my current use-case: i use this plugin to power up my page – which has visitors from several european Countries. I’m using this plugin to manage a small job-site: And i have to say: I love this plugin. And if it comes to support: it is so awesome to see that all is documented so well and good: You can do so much with this plugin: if you need to customize it towards your special use-case: just look at the documentation (and again have a look at the docs) Read those instructions – they are written so well, people. There’s a lot of detail there and alltogehter i have to say: it’s super well documented! Amazing job: i love this plugin, from me 5 stars – (i would give even more if it would be possible) keep up this awesome and outstanding job – it rocks!!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ capbussat5.9y ago
I think this should be in Core for websites with several possible languages. I like it very much! Specially I appreciate that each user can also choose languages from the selected languages. (I am developing a translation plugin for my own needs to use Google Translate to translate posts/pages and complement it.) This topic was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by capbussat.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ strarsis6.2y ago
An indispensable plugin for sites that use a language with formal/non-formal variant. This should become a WordPress core functionality!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Michael Turner6.3y ago
Its works fine for me. Very cool plugin
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (2.4.2). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 4.4 Preferred Languages <= 2.2.2 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2024-05-30 CVE-2024-35644 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.2.2 Patched in 2.3.0
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 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 44 languages, 20 at 90% or more
Plus 20 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
3 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 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 want"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Slack.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 2 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,971 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "internationalization", "localization" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-09 2K+ → 3K+ up after 293 days in tier
- 2025-11-20 3K+ → 2K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-11-19 2K+ → 3K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-11-17 3K+ → 2K+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2025-11-10 2K+ → 3K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-11-09 3K+ → 2K+ down after 81 days in tier
- 2025-08-20 2K+ → 3K+ up after 427 days in tier
- 2024-06-19 3K+ → 2K+ down after 39 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).
-
Performant Translations 30K+ installs · 4.5★ · 4 shared tags A -
Translation Stats 10+ installs · 4.3★ · 4 shared tags A -
Loco Translate 1M+ installs · 4.8★ · 3 shared tags B -
Polylang 900K+ installs · 4.7★ · 3 shared tags B -
Language Fallback 5K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A - A Admin in English 1K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Preferred Languages into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/preferred-languages" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Preferred Languages — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Preferred Languages: 3K+ active installs, 5.0★ (18 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/preferred-languages
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