Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons
by Travis · Social
Also makes 1 other plugin · 9K+ installs across the portfolio →
An easy to use lightweight SVG icons plugin with over 1500+ brand icons. Use these icons in your menus, widgets, posts, or pages.
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 52/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Open vulnerability
Active installs
3K+
≈3.5K estimated
Momentum
+90%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “add social media icons to wordpress”, “icons shortcodes” and “menu icons” for “plurk”, “hatena” and “addthis”. “add social media icons to wordpress” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “plurk” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “icons shortcodes” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “hatena” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “menu icons” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “addthis” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
52 health vs 58 average across 1,835 Social plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.7%
of downloads still active
At least 3K of 81.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Social plugin keeps 0.5%, across 1,276 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Social plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
28/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Not actively maintained. No update in about 2 years.
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 1077 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.3.14; the current branch is 6.8
4.7★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1077 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.
33
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
6%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| plurk | #5 | #5 | 0 |
| hatena | #10 | #5 | 0 |
| sina | #12 | #9 | 0 |
| addthis | #14 | #16 | up 1 |
| diaspora | #14 | #8 | down 2 |
| add social media icons to wordpress your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| icons shortcodes your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| menu icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social media icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| svg icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
422 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 5 listed. 417 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “add social media icons to wordpress”, “icons shortcodes” and “menu icons” for “plurk”, “hatena” and “addthis”. “add social media icons to wordpress” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “plurk” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “icons shortcodes” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “hatena” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “menu icons” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “addthis” sits at #14 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 3.3K · 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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
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
3.0y ago
latest release · v2.8.4 · 20 Nov 2023
30
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 95% 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 “3K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 12 months 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 12 Jan 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Cynthia Armistead1.8y ago
This is an excellent plugin. It’s easy to use, and it definitely fills a need. I love displaying the icons for various sites without having to hunt them down and host them myself. The plugin would be even better if the maintainer submitted the latest version of the GitHub code to the WordPress Plugin Repository!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ld2digital2.8y ago
Very useful plugin and easy to use. Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Jimmy Lee5.3y ago
Trashed my theme generated icons and replaced with Popular Brands SVG icons, Good Stuff! Thank you! Super lightweight! This topic was modified 5 years ago by Jimmy Lee.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ frank5.7y ago
Very useful 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Charles E. Frees-Melvin5.8y ago
I love this plugin flexible and useful. My only suggestion is the menu should be under tools instead of settings.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ connde6.0y ago
Hi, idea looks good but after activating the plugin and clicking View Icons it start loading and after some time I get an 504 error. Other plugins are responsive and working as expected, so I assume is something related to this plugin or some URL that is not working as expected. I’m able to use the shortcodes, only limitation for now is that I cannot view and search the icons using the View Icons section. This topic was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by connde. This topic was modified 5 years, 9 months ago by connde.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mariushosting7.3y ago
Just Stunning!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sirikorng7.5y ago
I really love this plugin, however, it would be grateful if you can add some of them. LAZADA (Southeast Asia marketplace), ALIEXPRESS (Global Chinese Marketplace), TAOBAO (Chinese marketplace like Amazon), WEIBO (Chinese social media), Alibaba (Global B2B marketplace), Freelancer (Global freelance marketplace), Fiverr (Global freelance marketplace), Shutterstock (Stock images), Pixabay (Free sotck image), Alipay (Chinese payment) Paytm (Indian payment) Thank you very much This topic was modified 7 years, 2 months ago by sirikorng.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
Security history
via Wordfence Intelligence1 open vulnerability affects the current version (2.8.4). 1 of 2 disclosed are patched.
- Patched Medium · 5.4 Popular Brand Icons - Simple Icons <= 2.7.7 - Authenticated Cross-Site Scripting ↗2021-07-05 CVE-2021-24503 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 2.7.8 Patched in 2.7.8
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.4.1
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
3 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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce, Gutenberg, Oxygen, Yoast and 34 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 5 headings and 1 list.
- ✓ Enough to quote 32,266 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("add social media icons to wordpress", "icons shortcodes", "menu icons" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-11-02 4K+ → 3K+ down after 348 days in tier
- 2024-11-19 5K+ → 4K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-11-18 4K+ → 5K+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2024-11-15 5K+ → 4K+ down after 1391 days in tier
- 2021-01-24 4K+ → 5K+ up after 129 days in tier
- 2020-09-17 3K+ → 4K+ up after 155 days in tier
- 2020-04-15 2K+ → 3K+ up after 94 days in tier
- 2020-01-12 1K+ → 2K+ up after 146 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).
-
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
WP Menu Icons 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Mox Icons – Icon Pack for Elementor 1K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B -
Icon Box Block – Insert your favorite icon with customization and design 600+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag -
The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons 400+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/simple-icons" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons: 3K+ active installs, 4.7★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/simple-icons
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