Webmention
by Matthias Pfefferle · Uncategorized
Also makes 8 other plugins · 3.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Send and receive Webmentions in WordPress.
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 85/100
Few reviews
Active installs
900+
≈950 estimated
Momentum
+109%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “pingback” and “trackback” for “crossposting” and “post reactions”. “pingback” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #18. “crossposting” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “trackback” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “post reactions” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
85 health vs 58 average across 25,755 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.3%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 70.9K 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 12 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 11 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.22★ 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.
33
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
5%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| webmention your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| linkback your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| indieweb your tag | #7 | #5 | down 1 |
| trackback your tag | #11 | #18 | down 3 |
| reaction | #8 | #11 | down 1 |
| reactions | #9 | #14 | down 1 |
| pingback your tag | #18 | #19 | down 2 |
| crossposting | #10 | #3 | down 1 |
| post reactions | #13 | #14 | down 1 |
| bookmark | #15 | #14 | down 2 |
| bookmarks | #15 | #14 | down 1 |
| receive | #23 | #21 | up 1 |
| conversation | #20 | #21 | up 2 |
| microformats | #18 | #11 | down 1 |
| activitypub | #23 | #9 | 0 |
52 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 15 listed. 37 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Swap “pingback” and “trackback” for “crossposting” and “post reactions”. “pingback” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #18. “crossposting” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “trackback” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #11. “post reactions” sits at #13 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “trackback”. #11 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 4.1K · 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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
12
releases in the last 12 months
11d ago
latest release · v5.11.0 · 21 Oct 2026
86
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 “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3.5 years 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 14 Dec 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ shawfactor5.9y ago
A good plugin that does something very useful. Love the indieweb and Matthias Pfeferle does such great work
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Nathan DeGruchy6.3y ago
Though I believe that both this and the other Semantic Linkbacks plugin should be merged, both are well done, easy-to-use and expertly integrated into WordPress. Easiest way to begin integrating IndieWeb into your website.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ LewisCowles7.2y ago
This is fantastic. I joined indieweb a few days ago. Last night I wanted to know “So what actually does the technical implementation of a WebMention look like?”. I am now working on improving my understanding and perhaps I’ll create some documentation that I find easier than the w3c spec or a WP plugin. Great work, very patient team.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Prateek Saxena7.3y ago
Easiest way to integrate Webmentions!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Khürt Williams9.0y ago
Except for the conflict with Jetpack’s comment system and a quirky bug with emoji icons, this plugin works as expected. This topic was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by Khürt Williams.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Chris Aldrich11.6y ago
This is just truly awesome!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ growdigital12.0y ago
Brilliant for independent websites: Post On (your) Site Syndicate Elsewhere:
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Ryan12.8y ago
Webmentions rock. Thanks for writing this, pfefferle!
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 5 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (5.11.0). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 6.1 Webmention <= 5.10.1 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Open Graph og:title Meta Tag ↗2026-10-30 CVE-2026-111109 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 5.10.1 Patched in 5.10.2
- Patched High · 7.2 Webmention <= 5.8.0 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via MF2 'photo'/'url' Author Properties ↗2026-06-30 CVE-2026-10513 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 5.8.0 Patched in 5.8.1
- Patched Medium · 6.4 Webmention <= 5.6.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Server-Side Request Forgery ↗
- 2023-03-08 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 4.0.8 Patched in 4.0.9
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 9 languages, 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
4 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Send and receive Webmentions in WordPress."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 10 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 8 of 10 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 Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 1 heading and 1 list; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,121 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("indieweb", "linkback", "pingback", "trackback" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2023-05-15 1K+ → 900+ down after 15 days in tier
- 2023-04-30 900+ → 1K+ up after 25 days in tier
- 2023-04-05 1K+ → 900+ down after 116 days in tier
- 2022-12-10 900+ → 1K+ up after 42 days in tier
- 2022-10-29 800+ → 900+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2022-10-25 900+ → 800+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2022-10-24 800+ → 900+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2022-10-21 900+ → 800+ down after 142 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).
-
No Self Ping 10K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
IndieWeb 600+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Hide Trackbacks 300+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Post Kinds 100+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags A -
Remove Pingback-Trackback Comments 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags D - I IndieBlocks 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Webmention into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/webmention" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Webmention — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Webmention: 900+ active installs, 5.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/webmention
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