Syntax-highlighting Code Block (with Server-side Rendering)

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

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.

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.

25 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 17 listed. 8 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

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

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 91% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 5.2 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 90% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ audioscavenger

   2.6y ago

   no one wants to conduct a real study to see how many of use hate the code block.

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2. ★★★★★ Salvatore Noschese

   3.4y ago

   missed just a download and/or copy button. also for theme, maybe is best to update “usage instruction”! only after some search I understood can be changed via customized menu. anyway, looks so good. ty.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ OllieJones

   3.4y ago

   Thanks for this. It’s really nice.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Marie Comet

   4.0y ago

   Works great, thanks !

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Gwyneth Llewelyn

   4.3y ago

   I confess, I’ve been a happy user of Code Syntax Block for quite a while — a plugin which the author, Weston Router, clearly states that Syntax Highlighting (Code Block) is based upon. Alas, however, all the pages I had with the older plugin would suffer from an inevitable rendering slowdown — there is so much Javascript on web pages these days that such a slowdown is inevitable, and this is especially true to those scripts that attempt to recognise the language automatically — something that will consume plenty of CPU cycles on the browser. Parsing the language is also no mean feature by itself (I know, I’ve been doing some experiments for some code editors, and, believe me, it’s tough!). So why force the end-user to bear the burden of all that work? It makes much more sense to pre-render everything on the server, and then let the web server send the already-parsed HTML from its cache. That way, the end-user will already have everything on their browser, no need to wait for parsing! Also, if you ‘forget’ to set the language that your code is in (it happens…), the auto-detecting feature will only run on the server, and just once, when you save the post you’re writing. Even if it takes a fraction of a second more to save, think of how much time all those users will save when they get the already-rendered page! So, this plugin is definitely recommended. As a bonus: if you are already using some sort of code block on your WP setup, once you turn off whatever plugin you were using, Syntax Highlighting (Code Block) will immediately pick it up and start its magic (you might need to open and save all the pages you’ve got code on, though — I’m not quite sure if that’s really the case). That means zero effort (beyond saving) — what you already had will continue to work. And, naturally enough, when you disable this plugin, your code block will just revert to the internal WP code block instead — nothing will be ‘lost’ that way! If you’re still hesitant and reading this to the end… while you wasted your time here, think of how many of your users would have saved their time if you already had this plugin installed 🙂

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ diegoamorin

   4.5y ago

   No agrega bloques nuevos a WordPress, ya que potencia el bloque de código existente. Soporta gran cantidad de Lenguajes, puedes mostrar líneas y marcar ciertas partes del código. ¡Vaya todo lo que necesito! Y no hay que configurar nada!

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ bradvin

   4.8y ago

   Just found this gem of a plugin when looking for code syntax highlighting plugins. No hassle at all to get working, just install and activate and it formats and styles existing code blocks in posts. Could not be happier with this plugin. Wlldone!

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ Sven Woltmann

   5.0y ago

   I’ve switched to “Syntax-highlighting Code Block” from a similar plugin, mainly because the old one didn’t recognize the new Java Text Blocks. This one does, and GTMetrix also reports a heavily reduced DOM size for almost all my pages, for example: from 2,363 elements down to 1,654 elements from 1,842 elements down to 1,442 elements That’s an amazing and surprising improvement! I do have one feature request, though: It would be great if one could select a subset of the available languages for the dropdown, so you don’t always have to scroll through all 185 languages.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

Translated into 13 languages, 10 at 90% or more

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.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2021-08-03 900+ → 1K+ up after 110 days in tier
2. 2021-04-15 700+ → 900+ up after 131 days in tier
3. 2020-12-05 500+ → 700+ up after 114 days in tier
4. 2020-08-13 300+ → 500+ up after 121 days in tier
5. 2020-04-14 50+ → 300+ up

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).

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Syntax-highlighting Code Block (with Server-side Rendering): 1K+ active installs, 5.0★ (26 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/syntax-highlighting-code-block