TinyMCE Spellcheck
by Matthew Muro · Uncategorized
Also makes 3 other plugins · 22.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
TinyMCE Spellcheck adds the spellcheck button back to the editor in WordPress 3.6 and up.
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 44/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
2K+
≈2.5K estimated
Momentum
+57%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “grammar” for “spellcheck”. “grammar” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spellcheck” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
44 health vs 58 average across 25,737 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.7%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 53.4K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,770 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized 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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.0.38, 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 3259 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.0.38; the current branch is 6.8
3.8★ over 12 reviews, smoothed to 4.04★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3259 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| spellchecker your tag | #8 | #7 | 0 |
| spellcheck | #16 | #9 | 0 |
| grammar your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spell your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spelling your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| writing your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “grammar” for “spellcheck”. “grammar” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “spellcheck” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 355 · 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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
12.3y ago
latest release · v1.3 · 1 Aug 2014
4
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 “2K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 8 months ago; the previous band took 16 months to cross, which places it about 52% of the way through.
Install history since 1 Oct 2020
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ WPVoteUser11.5y ago
You will find the settings in your USER Profile! (Not the first section, where I would seach for it…) I’m just curious: Does the plugin submit every post to an external server for spell checking or is this a completely local process?
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Tom Dupuis11.6y ago
Everything worked great but it kept adding ” ” throughout my article’s HTML which I had to go back and delete.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ JSnyder2712.3y ago
This screwed up all the code as well as other plugins. It screwed up spacing with a <span> tag listed every other word for nonexistent errors. AVOID THIS PLUGIN!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ MCD Diseño Web12.3y ago
It is the best plugin of its kind that I have found. Thank you very much! regards
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ websupporter12.3y ago
Hi Matthew, thanks a lot for making this plugin available, because as you can see English is not my mother tongue and yet an need to write in it. So, thanks a lot for this plugin. I hope my blog will have less spelling errors from now on and less than this review 😉 [ link redacted, please do not post links in reviews ] So thanks again!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Bike12.4y ago
Great to have a non-Jetpack spellchecker and the basic functionality works great. However since 3.9, the spellchecker leaves all kinds of < span class=”hiddenSpellError” > references in the HTML, the moment you switch it on; bloating the code, breaking shortcodes and embeds and much more. Therefore currently unusable unless you remove all of these Spans manually, which is a ton of work as all unknown words are marked as well.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Juan12.6y ago
The plugin stopped working properly some time ago with important erros. It breaks all shortcodes, oEmbed and leave your content full os <span> elements. The problem was posted in the support forum but there is no reply from the author. See https://wordpress.org/support/topic/since-wp-v39-span-classes-are-added-in-the-code
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ zappyone12.7y ago
Thanks for bringing this back!
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 36 languages, 2 at 90% or more
Plus 12 more locales with partial translations.
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
4 of 8 pass · checked 31 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "TinyMCE Spellcheck adds the spellcheck button back to the editor in WordPress 3.6 and up."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 2 of 3 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Jetpack.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 169 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("grammar", "spellchecker", "spelling", "writing" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-03-17 3K+ → 2K+ down after 474 days in tier
- 2024-11-28 4K+ → 3K+ down after 408 days in tier
- 2023-10-17 5K+ → 4K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2023-10-16 4K+ → 5K+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2023-10-13 5K+ → 4K+ down after 374 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 6K+ → 5K+ down after 490 days in tier
- 2021-06-01 7K+ → 6K+ down after 263 days in tier
- 2020-09-11 8K+ → 7K+ down after 277 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).
-
Webmaster Spelling Notifications 100+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags D -
Perfect Tense – Spelling and Grammar Checker 100+ installs · 3.7★ · 2 shared tags D -
Qalam Arabic AI Writing Assistant Plugin | Qalam 10+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags D -
Gwirydd Sillafu Cymraeg 10+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags D -
Namoman Korean Speller — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Grammar Patrol — installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for TinyMCE Spellcheck into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/tinymce-spellcheck" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="TinyMCE Spellcheck — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> TinyMCE Spellcheck: 2K+ active installs, 3.8★ (12 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/tinymce-spellcheck
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