Simple Syntax Highlighting
by gung · Uncategorized
Simple, clean and lightweight syntax highlighting WordPress plugin.
44 health vs 56 average across 16,375 Uncategorized plugins
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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.31, well behind 6.8.
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
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 3020 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,426 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
191
now · peak 287
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
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
8.6y ago
latest release · v1.0
1
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 “50+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2021-08-17 · 1,385 observations
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
Est. acquisition value
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.
Details
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ hisw05098.6y ago
<ssh> button works well on the default editor and I like it. However, when I activate TinyMCE Advanced, one of the most popular WP plugins, <ssh> button doesn’t work as intended. It inserts tags in between every line. Until this is solved, I can't use this plugin because there are many code highlighting plugins with more functions that works on text editing mode. I wanted to give this a shot because no other competitor supports visual editing mode. I checked "Notify me of follow-up replies via email" so that you can let me know when this plugin is compatible with TinyMCE Advanced, or if the change is not possible on your side but on TinyMCE Advanced's.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.2.4
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-05-17 60+ → 50+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-05-15 50+ → 60+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-05-14 60+ → 50+ down after 296 days in tier
- 2025-07-22 70+ → 60+ down after 145 days in tier
- 2025-02-27 60+ → 70+ up after 6 days in tier
- 2025-02-21 70+ → 60+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2025-02-18 60+ → 70+ up after 167 days in tier
- 2024-09-04 70+ → 60+ down after 6 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).
-
Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ installs · 4.6★ · 3 shared tags A -
Simple Code Highlighter 300+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags D - G Google Syntax Highlighter for WordPress 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D
- A Auto SyntaxHighlighter 100+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
- S Syntax Highlighter Compress 80+ installs · 4.2★ · 3 shared tags D
- P Prettify Code Syntax 70+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Simple Syntax Highlighting into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/simple-syntax-highlighting" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Simple Syntax Highlighting — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Simple Syntax Highlighting: 50+ active installs, 4.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/simple-syntax-highlighting