Sweet Custom Dashboard
by Remi Corson · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 12 other plugins · 750+ installs across the portfolio →
A nice plugin to start creating your own custom WordPress dashboard.
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 47/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
400+
≈470 estimated
Momentum
—
no download trend yet
Biggest opportunity: “dashboard”, “metaboxe” and “metaboxes” 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.
47 health vs 56 average across 5,902 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.3%
of downloads still active
At least 400 of 12.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,194 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 13+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 3.5.2, 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 5079 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 3.5.2; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 5079 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| corsonr your tag | #10 | #5 | 0 |
| remi corson your tag | #10 | #5 | 0 |
| dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| metaboxe your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| metaboxes 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
- “dashboard”, “metaboxe” and “metaboxes” 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 15 Jul 2026 · 111 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 127 · 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
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.
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 “400+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 70% of the way through.
Install history since 6 Sep 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ G Matta11.3y ago
Thank you. Plugin is helped me with a very specific issue.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bensita11.8y ago
Great plugin, working fine in latest version 4.1 Simple and useful if you don´t want to show the default dashboard.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Stanko Metodiev12.8y ago
After some tweaks and little imagination you can create very beautiful Dashboard pages. Thank you for the great plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Richard Bland13.5y ago
I am about to customise my first dashboard on my first WPMU network. I followed the tutorial earlier and it was great. Now it is time to create my own. Along with the White Label CMS plugin this is going to allow me to customise the experience for my customers. What a great plugin!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ aryanduntley13.5y ago
I love when people find solutions to client requests and make their solutions available to the WP community. Glad to know I’m not alone in doing this. Great plugin, useful code. Thanks.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ ruess13.6y ago
This plugin is truly awesomeness! The only thing I think it needs is a way for people to dismiss it, similar to the wordpress intro screen, without having to disable the plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗
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 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 names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("if you have", "if you want").
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 455 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "corsonr", "Remi Corson" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-07-14 1K+ → 400+ 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 Sweet Custom Menu 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D
- C Color My Posts 60+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D
- C CMS admin area 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
-
Ocean Extra 400K+ installs · 3.4★ · 1 shared tag B -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
CMB2 300K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Sweet Custom Dashboard into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/sweet-custom-dashboard" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Sweet Custom Dashboard — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Sweet Custom Dashboard: 400+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/sweet-custom-dashboard
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