Simple Page Sidebars
by Cedaro · Uncategorized
Also makes 3 other plugins · 31.5K+ installs across the portfolio →
Easily assign custom, widget-enabled sidebars to any page.
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
C 64/100
Stale
Active installs
20K+
≈22K estimated
Momentum
+32%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: One page off on “sidebars”. #13 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
64 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.3%
of downloads still active
At least 20K of 462K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,766 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.
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: Support resolution
Updated 615 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.7.11; the current branch is 6.8
4.9★ over 54 reviews, smoothed to 4.52★
3 of 5 tags set · short description in place
0 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Mark more forum threads resolved — the resolved ratio feeds the ranking.
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
-1.1
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
10%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
+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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| sidebars your tag | #13 | #13 | down 2 |
| custom sidebars your tag | #24 | #19 | down 3 |
| widgets your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
13 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 2 listed. 11 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
- One page off on “sidebars”. #13 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- “widgets” isn't earning a slot. You list it, but you're not in the first 24 results for that search. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1K · 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
1.7y ago
latest release · v1.2.1 · 23 Feb 2025
13
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 98% 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 “20K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 20K.
Install history since 2 May 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ twowithink1.7y ago
Excellent and very helpful plugin when you need to quickly create and manage additional sidebars for your pages. Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nevertrump5.8y ago
Update: Wrote to the developer, he answered quickly. The issue we are seeing appears not to be with Simple Page Sidebars but rather with WordPress 5.6 Core instead. See the ticket where others are having the same issue. https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52073 Absolutely awesome plugin up to 5.5.3. Unfortunately, it no longer works with the latest version of WordPress as of this review (5.6) on 1/8/2021. Hopefully, the developer(s) will have time to upgrade the plugin. In the meantime, those who want to continue to use the plugin will need to downgrade their website to an earlier version. You can use a free plugin called WP Downgrade to do this but it’s a bandaid. This topic was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by nevertrump.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ messanoir7.5y ago
Just wanted to say, that even though the developer is super busy and may not have updated the plugin version specifically for latest WP version, it still works flawlessly. This is a great example of simple coding done right. Nothing that isn’t needed, it just simply works. 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous User8.7y ago
This is simple and works great, and no ads! Thank you! Other sidebar plugins put huge, ugly ads right in the middle of the Widgets screen (Custom Sidebars by WPMU-Dev).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ hijack619.1y ago
thanks guys for hard work, excellent plugin, works like a charme
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ y2kdaddio9.4y ago
I can’t find a way to ask a question so I will ask it here. Simple sidebars is awesome…until yesterday when it stopped working for me. Running WordPress 4.8. Added a new webpage, entered a new sidebar name and hit update. Added text to the new sidebar and updated. Here’s the rub. When I try to edit the text for this particular sidebar, it returns me to the Widget Text page. I’m caught in an endless loop. This now occurs with all the sidebars that I have created. I’m stumped…can anyone help? Sorry to put this in the reviews but I found no way to post in the support form.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ deeholzman9.6y ago
Very easy to configure and set up – you can rename sidebars, and this plugin also allows as many widget areas as you want. You can create new widget areas with each sidebar that you want, and put those sidebar widgets on whatever pages that you want. Here’s how to rename a sidebar: Go to ‘All Pages’, and find the row one of the pages that uses the sidebar you want to change the name of, then look in that row’s “sidebar” column. There you’ll see the name of the sidebar; select that sidebar link and it will take you to an Edit Sidebar page where you can change the title. To delete a sidebar: Just remove it from any page that it has been assigned to. Very handy plugin and saves lots of time from having to register sidebars in functions.php.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Thomas Dufranne9.7y ago
Works like a charm !
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.2.1 Removed bundled language files in favor of WordPress.org language packs. 1.2.1
- — Version 1.2.0 Transferred to Cedaro. Updated the Widget Area class constructor to prevent deprecation notices in WP 4.3+. 1.2.0
- — Version 1.1.8 Added Spanish translation. 1.1.8
- — Version 1.1.7 Added Indonesian translation. 1.1.7
- — Version 1.1.6 Prevent quick edit nonces from being submitted when searching or filtering a post list table. 1.1.6
- — Version 1.1.5 Added Serbo-Croatian translation. 1.1.5
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 74 languages, 6 at 90% or more
Plus 50 more locales with partial translations.
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
6 of 8 pass · checked 26 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 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("designed for", "if you want", "use cases").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 6 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,265 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 3 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-31 10K+ → 20K+ up after 33 days in tier
- 2026-07-29 20K+ → 10K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-07-27 10K+ → 20K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-07-25 20K+ → 10K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-07-23 10K+ → 20K+ up after 13 days in tier
- 2026-07-10 20K+ → 10K+ down after 1096 days in tier
- 2023-07-10 30K+ → 20K+ down after 718 days in tier
- 2021-07-22 40K+ → 30K+ down after 98 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).
-
Custom Sidebars by ProteusThemes 1K+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags - M Multiple Sidebar Generator 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D
- W WooSidebars 100K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags C
-
Ocean Custom Sidebar 20K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
RaraTheme Companion 10K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Stag Custom Sidebars 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Simple Page Sidebars into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/simple-page-sidebars" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Simple Page Sidebars — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Simple Page Sidebars: 20K+ active installs, 4.9★ (54 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/simple-page-sidebars
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