Remove Query Arg from Media URLs ?_=1
by Angelo Mandato · Media
Remove the query string ?_=1 added by WordPress adds to media URLs in HTML5 audio and video mediaelement.js players.
41 health vs 59 average across 1,922 Media plugins
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 9+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.33, well behind 6.8.
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
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 3478 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,381 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
14
now · peak 57
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
Downloads per 1k installs · 30d
Engagement proxy · release spikes are signal, a long slide is an aging base
Estimated active installs
wp.org reports only “10+”. The real number sits in this band.
Modeled within the band wp.org reports; tightens as we track daily.
Install history · since 2022-10-04 · 1,383 observations
Details
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
No tier crossings observed yet.
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach — closest match first
-
La Tecnologeria Podcasting players 40+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D - P Podcast Searcher by Clarify 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D
- P PowerPress Posts From MySQL addon 10+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Seriously Simple Podcasting 30K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Podcast Player – Your Podcasting Companion 10K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Captivate Sync 1K+ installs · 3.5★ · 2 shared tags B
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<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/remove-query-arg-from-media" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Remove Query Arg from Media URLs ?_=1 — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Remove Query Arg from Media URLs ?_=1: 10+ active installs, 0.0★ (0 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-07-17. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/remove-query-arg-from-media