Seriously Simple Transcripts
by Craig Hewitt · Uncategorized
Also makes 4 other plugins · 27.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Add downloadable transcripts to your Seriously Simple Podcasting episodes.
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 82/100
Few reviews
Active installs
900+
≈950 estimated
Momentum
+96%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “podcast” and “podcasting” for “episode” and “episodes”. “podcast” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “episode” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “podcasting” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “episodes” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
82 health vs 58 average across 25,739 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.6%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 19.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 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.
This plugin shipped 1 release 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 45 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
3.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.08★ 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.
32
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.9
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
7%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| transcripts your tag | #1 | #24 | 0 |
| seriously simple podcasting your tag | #3 | #21 | 0 |
| ssp your tag | #4 | #24 | down 1 |
| podcasting your tag | #11 | #24 | 0 |
| episodes | #14 | #24 | down 4 |
| episode | #13 | #24 | down 3 |
| downloadable | #24 | #24 | down 4 |
| podcast your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
15 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 7 listed. 8 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “podcast” and “podcasting” for “episode” and “episodes”. “podcast” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “episode” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “podcasting” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “episodes” sits at #14 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 “podcasting”. #11 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 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.2K · peaks are release surges
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
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.
1
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v1.2.1 · 17 Sep 2026
6
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 85% 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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 11 months ago; the previous band took 21 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 4 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Azurite8mo ago
At the end of the day, it feels like this plugin is just a glorified accordion dropdown in the editor. Yes, you can add a transcript file (as in, a caption/subtitle file? At least, that’s what SRTs and VTTs are, usually, but the FAQs mention a PDF, and the plugin itself suggests TXT), but that has no impact whatsoever on the Transcript widget/block that shows up in your editor, which is just plain text. It adds a download link below the Castos Player widget. For some reason, mine had the open/close chevron show just fine in the editor, but on the published page, it rendered as incomplete HTML (the num-code for the character). Since there seems to be no connection between the subtitle FILE and the subtitle widget/block, I just replaced it on my podcast episode page with an Elementor Accordion widget, which works better for my purposes. The screenshots on the Installation page at out-of-date; the plugin does NOT show up in the block/widget selection as “Castos Transcripts” or even use the same icon (at least not in Elementor); it uses just the word “Transcripts” and is very basic in its functionality; you can’t change the icon used for the dropdown, but you can set the general Typography and Color, and you can opt to hide it from your RSS feed.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.7.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 6 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.
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
7 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 "Add downloadable transcripts to your Seriously Simple Podcasting episodes."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("great for", "if you want").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Elementor, Gutenberg.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,473 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "ssp" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-12-02 1K+ → 900+ down after 621 days in tier
- 2024-03-21 900+ → 1K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-03-20 1K+ → 900+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2024-03-17 900+ → 1K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-03-15 1K+ → 900+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-03-14 900+ → 1K+ up
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).
-
Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags B -
Podcast Player – Your Podcasting Companion 10K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Buzzsprout Podcasting 5K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Captivate Sync 1K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
Seriously Simple Speakers 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
Podigee for WordPress: Podcast Episodes to Blog Posts 600+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Seriously Simple Transcripts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/seriously-simple-transcripts" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Seriously Simple Transcripts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Seriously Simple Transcripts: 900+ active installs, 3.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/seriously-simple-transcripts
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