Term/Tag Cloud Search
by eggplantstudios · Search
Also makes 2 other plugins · 120+ installs across the portfolio →
Creates a widget that will present a "Tag Cloud" of terms, and allow you to pick one or more terms to search by.
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
D 46/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
10+
≈15 estimated
Momentum
0%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: “search”, “tags” and “widget” 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.
46 health vs 62 average across 979 Search plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.4%
of downloads still active
At least 10 of 2.3K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Search plugin keeps 0.7%, across 647 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Search plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
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 11+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.1.42, well behind 7.1.
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.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 4239 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.1.42; the current branch is 7.1
4.8★ over 4 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.2★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4239 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| search your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| tags your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widget your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “search”, “tags” and “widget” 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 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 50 · 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
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
11.6y ago
latest release · v1.0.1 · 27 Mar 2015
2
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 “10+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 4 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ silksheets2.4y ago
So I’ve been searching for a plugin exactly like this for awhile and tried it out, but it didn’t work. There’s other plugins that offer a tag cloud search, but end up paywalling you for it which sucks. This one is free but hadn’t been updated in a while and I had the newest WP version so I suspected incompatibility. Sent an email as a last resort, thinking it’ll be awhile before I get any support but within the hour this amazing developer reached out and had made an updated version for me! They really care about what they’re doing at EPS and I couldn’t praise them enough. To Shawn- sincerely, thank you 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Lexx11.1y ago
Exactly what i wanted
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gissing11.6y ago
Nice plugin. But it looks like shit! I have seen you recommend people to “try som CSS”. It’s a little like advicing people to look deep in their car’s engine, or paint it themselves, isn’t it? Well now you have used so much time making it basically ‘drive’, why not give it just a little push more, so people can change the color. Its the difference between the two colors on the ‘selectors’ – try Black/white.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ JihadFree11.6y ago
Really clean and simple looking tag cluster. Very simple to search, I used it at some other site and hunted it down in plugins for my own. It didn’t install, so I looked for ages at others. None suited my wants. Wrote to the creator and he identified the problem (I use old version of PHP it seems) and he fixed it with in 10 minutes from his end. Would love to see it be able to categorise the tags.
Read on wp.org ↗
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
2 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 "Creates a widget that will present a "Tag Cloud" of terms, and allow you to pick one or more terms to searc..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Term/Tag Cloud Search doesn’t look right").
- ! 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 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 614 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "tags" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2022-11-08 20+ → 10+ down
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).
-
Search Meter 20K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags B -
Flexible Posts Widget 7K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D - U Ultimate Tag Cloud Widget 4K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
-
Sitekit 3K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags C - C Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) 2K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D
- T Taxonomy Dropdown Widget 1K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Term/Tag Cloud Search into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/search-by-taxonomy-tag-cloud-search" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Term/Tag Cloud Search — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Term/Tag Cloud Search: 10+ active installs, 4.8★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/search-by-taxonomy-tag-cloud-search
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