Reactions – Emoji Reactions for Posts
by Gary Pendergast · Uncategorized
Also makes 4 other plugins · 20K+ installs across the portfolio →
Let visitors react to your posts with emoji, Facebook/GitHub-style. Reactions are stored as ordinary WordPress comments.
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 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
10+
≈15 estimated
Momentum
-50%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: Swap “comments” for “react”. “comments” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “react” sits at #17 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.1%
of downloads still active
At least 10 of 18.8K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,785 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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 4 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.9★ over 8 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.1★ 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| reactions your tag | #12 | #17 | up 1 |
| react | #17 | #20 | up 2 |
| page reactions | #13 | #18 | — |
| post reactions | #14 | #18 | up 1 |
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| emoji your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| engagement your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| likes your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
10 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 4 listed. 6 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
- Swap “comments” for “react”. “comments” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “react” sits at #17 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 “reactions”. #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 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.5K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #30,400 to #44,800, alongside the other plugins at 10+ 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 1 Nov 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
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 “10+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 17 months ago; the previous band took 13 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 1 Sep 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ wpdabh3.7y ago
cool plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Harry Jackson9.4y ago
Very nice plugin that should allow for more user interaction on your site
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Luke Cavanagh10.3y ago
Interesting idea for a plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Justin Tadlock10.6y ago
Giving a 5-star review because this is an awesome concept. I’m really looking forward to seeing it progress and become better over time. I’m also balancing out silly 1-star reviews by @jessy161616 and @gleenk since neither of these people left reviews of the actual plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jason Cosper10.7y ago
The jerks who one-starred this can go suck on a lemon. I don’t care for comments on my sites, but I’d still like feedback. Emoji reactions allow me to get that without having to suffer through long-winded, cruddy opinions.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Mark-k10.7y ago
.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ meiam10.7y ago
If it’s a plugin to react to poop, then explain, in great detail how it will allow such reaction. If it’s an emoji plugin to react to posts using the REST API, then say so. It’s just not cool having these generic plugins show up in our (public user) feeds and having to dissect what this is. Comb through shell scripts for security and wondering why composer.js files are accepted in the Repo. You Automattic devs should keep your sandboxing in-house please!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Gary Pendergast10.7y ago
My name is Commander Shepherd, and this is my favourite plugin in the plugin directory.
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 15 languages, 0 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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
0 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 is 13 characters, too short to say what the plugin does.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! 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 141 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 3 tags appear in the text ("comments", "emoji" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-06-09 20+ → 10+ down after 381 days in tier
- 2024-05-24 30+ → 20+ down after 407 days in tier
- 2023-04-13 40+ → 30+ down after 194 days in tier
- 2022-10-01 30+ → 40+ up after 178 days in tier
- 2022-04-06 40+ → 30+ down after 187 days in tier
- 2021-10-01 60+ → 40+ down after 173 days in tier
- 2021-04-11 30+ → 60+ up after 552 days in tier
- 2019-10-07 40+ → 30+ down after 189 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).
-
Disqus Comment System 30K+ installs · 2.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Native Emoji 5K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D -
wp-Monalisa 600+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags B -
Da Reactions 300+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags B -
Vuukle – Comments, Reactions, Quizzes, Share Bar & Ad Revenue 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B -
Comment Emojis for WP 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Reactions – Emoji Reactions for Posts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/react" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Reactions – Emoji Reactions for Posts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Reactions – Emoji Reactions for Posts: 10+ active installs, 3.9★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/react
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