Superfish Menus
by Matt Hodder · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 1 other plugin · 210+ installs across the portfolio →
Adds jQuery Superfish effects to most WordPress menus.
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 43/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
200+
≈250 estimated
Momentum
+6%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “jquery”, “menu” and “thesis” 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.
43 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.3%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 14.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,187 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities 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 3.7.41, 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 4685 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.7.41; the current branch is 6.8
3.6★ over 9 reviews, smoothed to 4.02★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 4685 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| superfish your tag | #4 | #3 | 0 |
| jquery your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| thesis your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search 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
- “jquery”, “menu” and “thesis” 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 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 148 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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.
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 18 months ago; the previous band took 14 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 12 Aug 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Landon11.9y ago
By simply installing this plugin, a broken theme’s sub-menu was resurrected. Quite a plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mrpesk8412.6y ago
Doesn’t work. Not doc no explain no option panel config
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nhensh12.9y ago
I just installed it and it fixed my menus.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ qiujumper13.2y ago
It’s greate.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Ryan13.3y ago
An extremely basic implementation for bringing Superfish into your WordPress site. I’m not entirely sure what the use-case is for this, as it makes quite a few big assumptions about what to apply the effect to, doesn’t offer any default styles (not even the ones that come with the Superfish package), nor does it offer any settings to help configure the plugin via the backend. If you are looking for a plugin that simply loads the superfish.js file — this does that.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ behroozwp13.4y ago
not any effect wasting time
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ codex2213.6y ago
This is a great Plugin and also really easy to add the effects to own theme menus. It saves lot of time to rewrite the menu css, so it will fit your own theme. Great! Thanks for that!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ tbare13.8y ago
Simply put, it adds Superfish functionality to your menus (arrows for sub-menus, fade / drop down affects, etc). There’s no styling for your menus, so you have to make sure you have it all done in your theme’s CSS, but it’s exactly what I wanted / needed w/o adding it to my theme specifically. Thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
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
2 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 "Adds jQuery Superfish effects to most WordPress menus."
- ! 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 Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 54 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "Thesis" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-04-26 300+ → 200+ down after 429 days in tier
- 2024-02-22 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2024-02-20 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2024-02-19 400+ → 300+ down after 9 days in tier
- 2024-02-10 300+ → 400+ up after 8 days in tier
- 2024-02-02 400+ → 300+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2024-02-01 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2024-01-30 400+ → 300+ down after 5 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).
-
Menubar 1K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Nav Menu Item Duplicator 500+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags D -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
Max Mega Menu 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Menu Image, Icons made easy 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B - D Duplicate Menu 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Superfish Menus into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/superfish" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Superfish Menus — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Superfish Menus: 200+ active installs, 3.6★ (9 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/superfish
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