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Shortcodes in Sidebar

by Pankaj Anupam · Admin & Utilities

Also makes 6 other plugins · 570+ installs across the portfolio →

Free audit wp.org ↗

Runs shortcodes in the Custom HTML widget, the one sidebar widget WordPress still renders without executing them.

⚠ Few reviews
How scoring works →
84 Health · B
Maintenance 100/100
Rating quality 76/100
Support 70/100

84 health vs 54 average across 3,791 Admin & Utilities plugins

400+

Active installs

≈470 estimated

15.8K

Total downloads

since 2011

4.06★

Rating (adjusted)

5.0★ raw · 2 reviews

+387%

419

Downloads · 30d

category median +19%

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.

89 / 100

Excellent listing optimization

Biggest win: Rating quality

Update recency 100/100
WP compatibility 100/100
Rating quality 52/100
Listing tuning 100/100

To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.

Get the full rank-higher report →

Daily downloads

Since 2022-10-05 · 1,424 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+387% vs prior 30d
22Downloads · Aug 26

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges

419

now · peak 415

41530d downloads · Aug 26

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

Shortcodes in Sideba · #9745 you Shortcodes Ultimate · #145 Recent Posts Widget · #347 Image Widget · #402

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.

1Kper 1k installs · Aug 26

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share 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.

v3.0 94%
v2.0 5.7%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “400+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate
400–500 ≈470

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

Install history · since 2015-12-13 · 1,422 observations

400Installs · Aug 26

Estimated value

What this plugin might earn a year, and what it might sell for. Modeled from public signals; we don't see anyone's books.

Est. annual revenue

N/A

Est. acquisition value

N/A

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price. A small install base leaves thin data to model from. The recent download trend is too spiky to read.

Ratings · 2 reviews

Read on wp.org ↗
5★
2 4★
0 3★
0 2★
0 1★
0

Details

Version
26.0
Last updated
18d ago
Added
2011-12-05 · 14 yrs old
Requires WP
5.0
Tested up to
7.0.4
Requires PHP
7.4
Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗
  1. ★★★★★ martin_ziegert
    8.9y ago

    Upload, Activate – refresh page and shortcode is running, it worked right away. Thanks for that.

    Read on wp.org ↗
  2. ★★★★★ Matt_flexmlsIDX
    11.4y ago

    Very smooth plugin. It has helped me add some more features to the sidebar on my sites. Thanks!

    Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3

✓ Low memory footprint
✓ Low page-speed impact
✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP
✓ No PHP errors
✓ No JS errors
✓ Activates cleanly
✓ No resource errors
✓ No external HTTP errors
✓ Optimized database use
✕ Frequently updated

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

  1. 2025-11-30 500+ → 400+ down after 2 days in tier
  2. 2025-11-28 400+ → 500+ up after 3 days in tier
  3. 2025-11-25 500+ → 400+ down after 2 days in tier
  4. 2025-11-23 400+ → 500+ up after 5 days in tier
  5. 2025-11-18 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
  6. 2025-11-17 400+ → 500+ up after 5 days in tier
  7. 2025-11-12 500+ → 400+ down after 338 days in tier
  8. 2024-12-09 600+ → 500+ down after 217 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).

Compare head to head →

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Preview card ↗

Shortcodes in Sidebar: 400+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-28. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/shortcodes-in-sidebar