The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons
by Ryan Wiggill · Admin & Utilities
Create beautiful mobile navigation menus with custom icons, role-based visibility, and extensive style options for your WordPress site.
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
B 77/100
Few reviews
Active installs
400+
≈480 estimated
Momentum
-5%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “custom menu”, “menu icons” and “navigation menu” for “bottom navigation”, “app menu” and “sub menu”. “custom menu” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “bottom navigation” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “menu icons” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “app menu” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “navigation menu” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “sub menu” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
77 health vs 56 average across 5,895 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →6.5%
of downloads still active
At least 400 of 6.1K 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.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 201 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 1 review, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
31
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.7
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
5%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.4
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| mobile navigation your tag | #6 | #23 | down 1 |
| bottom navigation | #7 | #23 | 0 |
| mobile menu your tag | #21 | #24 | 0 |
| mobile bottom navigation | #8 | #23 | 0 |
| restaurant menu | #20 | #24 | down 1 |
| app menu | #23 | #24 | down 2 |
| sub menu | #23 | #24 | 0 |
| customisation | #24 | #24 | 0 |
| mobile ui | #18 | #24 | 0 |
| menu based sidebar | #21 | #24 | down 1 |
| mobile site navigation bar | #23 | #24 | 0 |
| custom navigation menu | #23 | #24 | down 1 |
| mobile responsive menu | #24 | #24 | 0 |
| responsive mobile menu | #24 | #24 | down 1 |
| custom menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| menu icons your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| navigation menu your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
50 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 14 listed. 36 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “custom menu”, “menu icons” and “navigation menu” for “bottom navigation”, “app menu” and “sub menu”. “custom menu” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “bottom navigation” sits at #7 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “menu icons” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “app menu” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “navigation menu” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “sub menu” sits at #23 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 20 Oct 2024 · 742 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 605 · 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.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
7mo ago
latest release · v1.2.23 · 13 Apr 2026
19
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
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 2 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 500.
Install history since 19 Oct 2024
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
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
6 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Create beautiful mobile navigation menus with custom icons, role-based visibility, and extensive style opti..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 6 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 6 of 6 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("perfect for"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce, Elementor, Gutenberg, Divi.
- ✓ Headings and lists 6 headings and 6 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 4,307 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("custom menu", "menu icons", "mobile menu" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-20 500+ → 400+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-08-19 400+ → 500+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-08-18 500+ → 400+ down after 31 days in tier
- 2026-07-18 400+ → 500+ up after 210 days in tier
- 2025-12-20 300+ → 400+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-12-19 400+ → 300+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-12-17 300+ → 400+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-12-15 400+ → 300+ down after 4 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).
-
Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 2 shared tags A -
UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Mobile Menu Builder for WordPress 500+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags D -
Multilevel Navigation Menu 400+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C - S SureWP App-Style Bottom Menu 80+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B
-
DS Mobile Menu – Customizable Bottom Navigation Bar 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/the-menu" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> The Menu: Custom mobile navigation with icons: 400+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/the-menu
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