WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates
by Mike Miler · Uncategorized
Also makes 2 other plugins · 330+ installs across the portfolio →
Visual regression testing for WordPress: catch broken layouts after auto-updates, plugin installs, or deploys before your visitors do.
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
A 86/100
Few reviews
Active installs
300+
≈300 estimated
Momentum
-5%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “checks”, “basic auth” and “visual” to your wp.org tags. You rank #7, #11 and #12 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed these are the slots worth spending.
86 health vs 58 average across 25,755 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.8%
of downloads still active
At least 300 of 10.8K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 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.
This plugin shipped 13 releases 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 17 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 4 reviews, smoothed to 4.17★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
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.
50
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
43%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.7
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| visual regression | #2 | #7 | 0 |
| regression | #2 | #6 | 0 |
| visual checks your tag | #2 | #7 | — |
| visual regression testing your tag | #2 | #4 | 0 |
| regression testing | #2 | #6 | 0 |
| detector | #4 | #8 | 0 |
| checks | #7 | #19 | up 3 |
| auto update checks your tag | #10 | #22 | — |
| visual | #12 | #18 | up 1 |
| testing | #13 | #20 | up 4 |
| ai detector | #4 | #6 | 0 |
| basic auth | #11 | #16 | down 1 |
| after | #20 | #20 | up 3 |
| update checks | #8 | #19 | 0 |
| cro | #13 | #12 | up 5 |
| generateblocks | #15 | #14 | 0 |
| checks before publishing | #11 | #19 | 0 |
| deploy | #21 | #21 | up 3 |
| mainwp child | #22 | #12 | down 2 |
| update monitoring | #15 | #20 | up 2 |
| monitoring your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
75 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 54 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Add “checks”, “basic auth” and “visual” to your wp.org tags. You rank #7, #11 and #12 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 4 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 6 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.2K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ 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
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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
13
releases in the last 12 months
17d ago
latest release · v4.6.1 · 15 Oct 2026
52
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “300+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band today and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 300.
At the current install trend, crossing 400+ in roughly 1666 days.
Install history since 5 Oct 2022
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ repat3.6y ago
I’m tracking a bunch of website changes with this tool. It’s affordable and saves me time by automatically checking if stuff broke after updates, especially plugins.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ kaibehrmann5.7y ago
I’ve been using this plugin for a while now and wouldn’t want to miss it. It works and helps to save both time and trouble. Updating my site is much less of a headache now.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ uspmaker5.8y ago
This plugin is amazing! I’m managing websites with over 300+ pages and tons of externally embedded forms etc and it’s simply impossible to manually keep track of every little issue that might occur after an update or user fault (quite often even something as important as forms go missing). Now I’m simply getting an email with an overview of what has changed on the site and it only takes me a few seconds to notice if something isn’t the way it’s supposed to be, so I can go directly to the relevant page and fix it.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ marcellakorver5.8y ago
Finally I’ve been searching for a tool like this for a long time. It works smoothly and is exactly what I was looking for. I would totally recommend webchangedetector to other people with websites!
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 0 at 90% or more
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
7 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 Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 13 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 13 of 13 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("perfect for", "built for").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce, Elementor, Gutenberg, Divi and 13 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 15 headings and 6 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 10,666 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "visual checks" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-11-01 200+ → 300+ up after 199 days in tier
- 2026-04-16 100+ → 200+ up after 454 days in tier
- 2025-01-17 90+ → 100+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-01-15 80+ → 90+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-01-12 60+ → 80+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-01-09 50+ → 60+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-01-06 60+ → 50+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-01-04 50+ → 60+ up after 17 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).
-
MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Manage – Centralized site maintenance and monitoring 100K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag B -
WP Umbrella: Security Backup Restore & Monitoring 90K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Modular DS: Monitor, update, and backup multiple websites 40K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
The WP Remote WordPress Plugin 30K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
Automattic For Agencies Client 20K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/webchangedetector" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WebChange Detector: Visual Regression Testing & Visual Checks After Updates: 300+ active installs, 5.0★ (4 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/webchangedetector
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