Purify WP Menus
by Kybernetik Services · Performance
Also makes 9 other plugins · 164.9K+ installs across the portfolio →
Improve page speed by letting slim down the HTML code of menus and category lists to the only CSS classes and attributes your theme needs.
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
200+
≈300 estimated
Momentum
+147%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Slipping on “menus”. Down 5 places since 2026-09-19, now #20. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
86 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.6%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 33.5K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,103 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance 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 48 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ 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.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.8
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
23%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| menus your tag | #20 | #22 | down 5 |
| category menus | #20 | #23 | down 3 |
| wordpress menus | #22 | #24 | down 1 |
| navigation menus | #22 | #21 | up 1 |
| page menus | #24 | #24 | 0 |
| css your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| navigation menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| page speed your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| performance your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
15 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 10 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Slipping on “menus”. Down 5 places since 2026-09-19, now #20. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
- “css”, “navigation menu” and “page speed” 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 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 724 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
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 · v3.6.0 · 13 Sep 2026
19
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 11 days ago and the previous band took 12 months to cross, so the real count is still just under 300.
Install history since 20 Aug 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ lars Portman6.4y ago
Had bit trouble findout the right settings but when works is certenly helping with preformance. Good basis to put your website in right direction with a start for removing unused CSS.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jem Turner8.3y ago
Working on a client site that needs to be as fast as possible but has a complicated menu system, this removed all of the superfluous WordPress classes without messing with my own bespoke classes. It dramatically reduced the rendered mark-up improving page sizes and thus speed.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ simonnicol11.6y ago
Nice clean, streamline menus with all the crap taken out. Definitely worth installing.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dahlskebank11.7y ago
This plugin works perfectly, and when met with a problem, the developer rushes to find a fix to it within hours!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tekshrek13.2y ago
Besten Dank für dieses Plugin. Es tut was es soll und das optimal.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Elisabeth13.8y ago
Great plugin to throw away all the css stuff in menues. I used the plugin on all my client’s websites to improve page speed performance a bit, especially on sites with more than 3 menues on a page. One of the best plugins I have met for web developers!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.5.5
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 1 at 90% or more
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
6 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Improve page speed by letting slim down the HTML code of menus and category lists to the only CSS classes a..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 8 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 8 of 8 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 13 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 3,900 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "performance" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-20 300+ → 200+ down after 370 days in tier
- 2025-10-15 400+ → 300+ down after 389 days in tier
- 2024-09-21 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-09-20 400+ → 500+ up after 5 days in tier
- 2024-09-15 500+ → 400+ down after 47 days in tier
- 2024-07-30 400+ → 500+ up after 20 days in tier
- 2024-07-10 500+ → 400+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2024-07-05 600+ → 500+ down after 2 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).
-
TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution 4K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Powered Cache – Caching and Optimization for WordPress – Easily Improve PageSpeed & Web Vitals Score 3K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Purify WP Menus into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/purify-wp-menues" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Purify WP Menus — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Purify WP Menus: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/purify-wp-menues
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