Vanilla Forums

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.

6 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 5 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

Directory rank

Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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 21 Oct 2026.

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 · 100% 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 19 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ Tennant

   6.9y ago

   Works fine with WordPress 5.2.4 and Vanilla 2.8.1. Likely works with upgraded versions of both. Any comments about it not working, either have other problems going on, outdated versions of software, or incorrect configuration. Read the install instructions and enjoy easy SSO with this plugin. Developers, thank you for updating this!

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ Sirmadsen

   8.1y ago

   Plugin not working, can’t change page url, youtube video is outdated and the embed only creates an empty page.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ dbrooke1007

   8.1y ago

   This plugin does not change with wordpress changes or Vanilla app changes. There are bugs in the current version having to do with SSO and role propagation and the company has taken the position they don’t support SSO for the open source community. We are moving to Discourse. ‘edit: 10102018’ I’m adding back a star to my review. It’s true most of what I said, but I figured out the Role Propagation issue after months of looking for an answer. Adding back a star. Would be nice if Vanilla cared about us plug-in users though. This topic was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by dbrooke1007. Reason: 1 issue resolved

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ Bobthearch

   8.3y ago

   I’ve tested about every method of integrating a forum into WordPress websites. I’ve used plugin forums, standalone forums as separate sites, and standalone forums in iFrames. So far it looks like Vanilla might be the best solution, the easiest and best-integrated. So why four-stars instead of five? You can add sub-forums to forums, but you cannot group forums into true categories in the same way that mainstream forum software does. There is a Vanilla plugin to address this but the plugin is many years old, has reported bugs, and was never released as a stable version.

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

   8.8y ago

   We’ve managed to make it work for SSO based authorization on a VF forum (with users logging in/registering via a WP site), but had a lot of troubles with bad UI, unexpected errors, not really decent documentation.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ omnix32

   11.0y ago

   This plugin allows you to have people register on your blog and takes that same information to register them also on your vanilla forums. It’s automatic for them. I am using the free open source version of vanilla forums and this set up with some reading and common sense. Nobody has tried to sell me anything and the plugin works as intended with the open source version of Vanilla. You will also need the JSConnect plugin from Vanilla forums Plugin page for single sign on. Setting this up is pretty self explanatory. A great plugin.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ Cpatain.Austin

   11.1y ago

   Ok so i have everything set up perfectly but still have one MAJOR issue, Permalinks. If i don’t have my permalinks set to default the forums displays a 404 not found. I don’t want to use default permalinks so i guess im not using vanilla forums sadly until this is fixed.

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

   11.4y ago

   Not worth the hassle, plus its a paid service and dosnt integrate in all themes, BB press is a lot better in my opinion

   Read on wp.org ↗

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.4.2

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. 2025-04-13 200+ → 100+ down after 3 days in tier
2. 2025-04-10 100+ → 200+ up after 3 days in tier
3. 2025-04-07 200+ → 100+ down after 389 days in tier
4. 2024-03-14 300+ → 200+ down after 5 days in tier
5. 2024-03-09 200+ → 300+ up after 6 days in tier
6. 2024-03-03 300+ → 200+ down after 322 days in tier
7. 2023-04-16 400+ → 300+ down after 540 days in tier
8. 2021-10-23 500+ → 400+ down after 163 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).

Embed this report card

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

Vanilla Forums: 100+ active installs, 2.8★ (17 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/vanilla-forums