Reading Time Block
by Noah J. Stewart · Performance
Also makes 3 other plugins · 100+ installs across the portfolio →
Adds a Gutenberg block to display the estimated reading time of the current post. Reading speed is customizable from the Settings → Reading screen.
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
C 61/100
Stale · Few reviews
Active installs
30+
≈30 estimated
Momentum
+4%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “estimated reading” and “estimated reading time” to your wp.org tags. You rank #13 and #13 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
61 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.2%
of downloads still active
At least 30 of 709 lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,104 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.
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.
Room to improve
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 519 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
2 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 519 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.
35
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 23d
10%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 23d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| reading speed your tag | #16 | #23 | down 1 |
| reading time your tag | #16 | #23 | 0 |
| estimated reading | #13 | #19 | 0 |
| estimated reading time | #13 | #22 | 0 |
| reading time count | #14 | #24 | up 4 |
| blog reading time | #21 | #24 | 0 |
| estimated read time | #21 | #24 | down 3 |
| speed reading | #23 | #24 | down 1 |
10 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Add “estimated reading” and “estimated reading time” to your wp.org tags. You rank #13 and #13 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 2 listed these are the slots worth spending.
- One page off on “reading speed”. #16 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- One page off on “reading time”. #16 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 31 May 2025 · 519 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 85 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #23,000 to #24,800, alongside the other plugins at 30+ 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
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.
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
1.4y ago
latest release · v1.2.2 · 31 May 2025
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 “30+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band today and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 30.
At the current install trend, crossing 40+ in roughly 113 days.
Install history since 31 May 2025
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 2 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 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Adds a Gutenberg block to display the estimated reading time of the current post. Reading speed is customiz..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("ideal for"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg.
- ✓ Headings and lists 2 headings and 1 list.
- ! Enough to quote 804 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 2 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-11-01 20+ → 30+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-30 30+ → 20+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2026-10-27 20+ → 30+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2026-10-24 30+ → 20+ down after 23 days in tier
- 2026-10-01 20+ → 30+ up after 97 days in tier
- 2026-06-26 10+ → 20+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2026-06-17 20+ → 10+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-06-16 10+ → 20+ up after 31 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).
-
Reading Time WP 20K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A -
Worth The Read 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A -
Just Writing Statistics 1K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag C -
Reading Position Indicator 800+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Post reading times 700+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag D -
Reading Time 200+ installs · 3.9★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Reading Time Block into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/reading-time-block" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Reading Time Block — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Reading Time Block: 30+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/reading-time-block
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