The Dude
by Kostas Vrouvas · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 6 other plugins · 260+ installs across the portfolio →
That, or His Dudeness… Duder… or El Duderino, if, you know, you're not into the whole brevity thing.
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
20+
≈25 estimated
Momentum
-10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “admin area” and “hello” 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.
48 health vs 56 average across 5,902 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 20 of 2.7K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,193 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.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 4+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.8.19.
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 1789 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.8.19; the current branch is 6.8
5.0★ over 7 reviews, smoothed to 4.21★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1789 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.
33
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 12d
0%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 12d
0.0
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| his dudeness your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| humor your tag | #9 | #3 | 0 |
| the dude your tag | #10 | #5 | 0 |
| admin area your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| hello your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
4 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 3 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “admin area” and “hello” 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 154 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #25,400 to #28,300, alongside the other plugins at 20+ 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 1 Nov 2026.
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
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 “20+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 14 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 22 Mar 2015
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ TWD3.5y ago
We are huge fans.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ CrowdedTent11.2y ago
Much appreciated Kosta!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Josh Smith11.7y ago
I don’t know how I survived without it before. I don’t know how people survive without it now.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Kristof Loyens Quantum Leap11.7y ago
Love the plugin, no doubt. But for some reason when I turn it on. It switches my language for admin back end to English, same happens for all texts I translated to Dutch for the theme. While my client wants Dutch. When I disable the plugin. It switches back to the installed Dutch. Look into why it loads the wrong .mo file and you have got a winner. 🙂 Best regards, K
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Zé Fontainhas11.7y ago
… really tied my WordPress site together
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Matt Rock11.7y ago
Fantastic plugin. A fun little breath of fresh air. My only gripe (though I still gave it five stars) is I’ve caught a couple of typo’s (ie; the quote I based my review title on is missing a space. “Yeah,well, this is…”). Would also be a nice touch to replace the “Howdy, admin” salutation. But hey, it’s just a little fun, right? Fuckin’ A. 🙂
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Suzette Franck11.7y ago
This plugin needed to be made, thank you! The Dude abides!
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
0 of 8 pass · checked 27 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 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 347 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("admin area", "hello", "humor", "the dude" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-08-26 30+ → 20+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-08-25 20+ → 30+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-08-23 30+ → 20+ down after 117 days in tier
- 2025-04-28 20+ → 30+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-04-26 30+ → 20+ down after 5 days in tier
- 2025-04-21 20+ → 30+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2025-04-12 30+ → 20+ down after 13 days in tier
- 2025-03-30 20+ → 30+ up after 8 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).
- H Hello Darth 10+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D
-
Hello Obi-Wan 10+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags D -
Hello Stranger Things 10+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D -
Hello World 200+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag -
Hide Admin Menu Items 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag D -
Remove Page Title From Elementor Pages by Default 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for The Dude into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/the-dude" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="The Dude — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> The Dude: 20+ active installs, 5.0★ (7 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/the-dude
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