SyntaxHighlighter Evolved

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

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 · 73% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.

No paid tier is visible, so we don't put a figure on revenue or sale value: that would be guessing. The install base is a real asset to an acquirer, just not one public data lets us price.

1. ★★★★★ Andrey Sirota

   2.4y ago

   Thank you for this plugin. It works perfect for pure C and C#, but unfortunately, it doesn’t highlight most code for the Unity game engine: C# scripts and Shaders. Please add support for this.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ versuri

   2.7y ago

   не работает. строки php просто закомментирует, в визуальном редакторе не отображается

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

   3.6y ago

   It works and show code beautifully on pages, But if you copied that code and want to use it, the it shows errors, Looks like it add some spaces, I tried it with php shorcode, and when i copied the code from the frontend of the page, It gives Parse error: syntax error, unexpected…

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Alex

   3.6y ago

   Thank you

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ dreamsoft

   4.5y ago

   so useful and great! many thanks

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

   4.7y ago

   Just like the title says.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ Hoerli

   4.8y ago

   Das Plugin funktionierte bisher gut, jedoch habe ich feststellen müssen, das diverse Code-Zeilen kaputt gehen. Ich bin mir nicht sicher ob es an WordPress oder an dem Plugin liegt, aber manche Wörter werden kaputt gemacht. Codezeilen werden dadurch ungültig. Als Beispiel: Eine nginx-Konfiguration enthält den Wert: fastcgi_split_pathfo Daraus wurde aber dann: fastcgi_split_pathfo Das ist doof 🙁 Ein Knopf im Menüband, wo man Code einfach mit den passenden Tags einfügen kann, wäre auch sehr hilfreich. So muss ich die Tags immer von Hand passend setzen. (WP 5.8.1 – php7.4) This topic was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Hoerli.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ shukantpal

   5.2y ago

   The syntax highlighting works perfecto! I did tweak the font size and line-height for my needs as well – changing the CSS was very easy.

   Read on wp.org ↗

Recent releases and news for this plugin

1. — Version 3.7.2 Add more explicit license information #266 Fix escaping when language is unknown #283 3.7.2
2. — Version 3.7.1 Ensure box sizing accounts for added padding #278 3.7.1
3. — Version 3.7.0 Update translations with translator comment to a single line. #245 Fix nested shortcode bugs. #261 PHP 8 Compat: declare class properties. #265 Migrate project to wp-scripts and fix lodash deps. #269 3.7.0
4. — Version 3.6.2 New: Add syntax highlight for Swift. #232 3.6.2
5. — Version 3.6.1 New: Set code block language when pasting into editor. #215 New: Add syntax highlight for Haskell. #210 New: Display the list of available brushes. #221 Fix: Line alignment for bootstrap themes. #222 Fix: Add space aroun 3.6.1
6. — Version 3.6.0 New: Add “`language shortcut. #180 New: Add block alignment support. #179 New: Add language selector to block toolbar. #172 Fix: transform issue. #201 Fix: toolbar code selection for latest Gutenberg versions #200 Fix: C 3.6.0

3 disclosed vulnerabilities on record for this plugin, all fixed in the current version. Sites on older versions stay exposed until they update.

1. Medium · 6.4 SyntaxHighlighter Evolved <= 3.7.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2025-03-27 CVE-2025-30903 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 3.7.1 Patched in 3.7.2
2. High · 7.2 SyntaxHighlighter Evolved < 3.5.1 - Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2019-10-21 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects < 3.5.1 Patched in 3.5.1
3. Medium · 6.1 SyntaxHighlighter Evolved <= 3.1.9 - Cross-Site Scripting ↗
   2014-08-01 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') Affects <= 3.1.9 Patched in 3.1.10

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.7.2

Translated into 73 languages, 17 at 90% or more

Plus 49 more locales with partial translations.

Growth timeline

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

1. 2024-03-29 30K+ → 20K+ 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 SyntaxHighlighter Plus 100+ installs · 4.0★ · 4 shared tags D
• Simple Code Block 200+ installs · 4.3★ · 3 shared tags D
• S SyntaxHighlighter2 20+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D
• Code View 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags D
• WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags A
• Code Snippets 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags B

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Drop a live Pulse card for SyntaxHighlighter Evolved into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

SyntaxHighlighter Evolved: 20K+ active installs, 4.3★ (86 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-08-29. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/syntaxhighlighter