Social Media Icons Widget
by arstropica · Social
Developed at NCI.
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 48/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+27%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “digg” for “google buzz”. “digg” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “google buzz” sits at #20 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
48 health vs 58 average across 1,835 Social plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 106.3K 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.
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 3.5.2, well behind 7.1.
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 3261 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.5.2; the current branch is 7.1
4.9★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.21★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description under 30 characters
To rank higher: Last updated 3261 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| google buzz | #20 | #9 | 0 |
| digg your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| facebook your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| social media your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| twitter your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 1 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 “digg” for “google buzz”. “digg” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “google buzz” sits at #20 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 · 1,490 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 249 · 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
13.6y ago
latest release · v1.2.7 · 17 Mar 2013
9
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 “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 22 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 27 Apr 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ k1rushqa11.8y ago
It’s another very good plugin but it’s useless for me because it doesn’t have IG icons/links. I guess I will use paid plugins. Seems like people hate IG or don’t know how to add 1 social media network. Uninstalled in 2 minutes after I checked all their themes and didn’t find IG. Bad job, would give 2-3 stars, if this widget was more complex but it’s very easy and nice to use. Could be the best free widget..
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ skopelos-tony12.7y ago
Does what it says it does, unlike other plugins I tried..! Has a great variety of icon sets to choose from (you can even add your own set for God’s sake), and it’s very easy to set up. Oh…btw..the actual links open separate windows with actual pages, unlike other plugins..again…!! Thank you creators…you saved me time..!!!!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ SoCalCreations13.2y ago
Very Quick, Simple, Intuitive with lots of options that aren’t complicated. Great Job!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ shiftyRZA13.3y ago
Note: AdBlock Plus with social media tracking blocking enabled will kill this plugin! Even in WordPress admin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ grider13.4y ago
works great
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Patricia BT13.5y ago
Since we can reorder icons AND add our own additional icons, AND it’s localized, AND it works, AND it’s easy to use, then it deserves 5 stars Thank you
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Prolet13.5y ago
And has the best support! Thank you, Akin 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Christina Garofalo13.6y ago
Simple to use. No scary code needed. Just drag and drop the widget and configure it all in one place.
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 50 languages, 0 at 90% or more
Plus 26 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 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description is 17 characters, too short to say what the plugin does.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 6 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 6 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and 1 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,504 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-01-21 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-01-20 1K+ → 2K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-01-18 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-01-17 1K+ → 2K+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-01-15 2K+ → 1K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-01-13 1K+ → 2K+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-01-10 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-01-09 1K+ → 2K+ up after 19 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).
-
Social Media Widget 30K+ installs · 3.9★ · 3 shared tags C -
Gleam: Run Competitions on Your WordPress Blog 100+ installs · 3.7★ · 3 shared tags D -
Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags A -
OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Seed Social 6K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags C -
Autopost for X (formerly Autoshare for Twitter) 5K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Social Media Icons Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/social-media-icons" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Social Media Icons Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Social Media Icons Widget: 1K+ active installs, 4.9★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/social-media-icons
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