SmoothGallery
by Christian Schenk · Media
Also makes 3 other plugins · 280+ installs across the portfolio →
Embed JonDesign's SmoothGallery into your posts and 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 42/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
60+
≈60 estimated
Momentum
+50%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “gallery”, “images” and “pictures” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
42 health vs 62 average across 3,291 Media plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.1%
of downloads still active
At least 60 of 47.7K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Media plugin keeps 0.8%, across 2,322 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Media plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
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 12+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.9.40, well behind 6.8.
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.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 4453 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.9.40; the current branch is 6.8
1.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.04★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4453 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.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| smoothgallery your tag | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| jondesign your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| gallery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| images your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| pictures your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “gallery”, “images” and “pictures” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 2 Nov 2024 · 730 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 92 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #19,000 to #20,000, alongside the other plugins at 60+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “60+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 60.
Install history since 15 Sep 2026
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 1 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Embed JonDesign's SmoothGallery into your posts and pages."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 2 of 3 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("The visual editor replaces div-tags with p-tags").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 572 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 4 of 5 tags appear in the text; "images" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-29 50+ → 60+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-10-27 60+ → 50+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2026-10-22 70+ → 60+ down
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).
- S Social Photo Fetcher 1K+ installs · 3.8★ · 3 shared tags B
-
Responsive Lightbox & Gallery 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags B -
Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B -
FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A - M Multi Image Metabox 7K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for SmoothGallery into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/smoothgallery" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="SmoothGallery — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> SmoothGallery: 60+ active installs, 1.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/smoothgallery
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