Widget Areas for LearnDash

Also makes 1 other plugin · 6.6K+ installs across the portfolio →

Add unlimited blocks/widgets to several areas of LearnDash Focus Mode, plus course & group pages.

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.

⚠ Stale

Health

C 67/100

Stale

Active installs

600+

≈680 estimated

Momentum

+61%

downloads vs prior 30d

Biggest opportunity: One page off on “learndash”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.

See the detail → Get the free audit

How scoring works →

67 Health · C

Maintenance 49/100

Rating quality 86/100

Support 70/100

67 health vs 69 average across 280 Education plugins

600+

Active installs

≈680 estimated

11.7K

Total downloads

since 2019 · 5.1% still active

4.4/5

Rating

5.0 on wp.org · 10 reviews

+61%

232

Downloads · 30d

category median +22%

Install conversion

How it's measured →

5.1%

of downloads still active

At least 600 of 11.7K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Education plugin keeps 1.1%, across 176 plugins.

Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Education plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.

Ratings · 10 reviews

Details

Version: 1.2
Last updated: 1.3y ago
Added: 2019-12-18 · 6 yrs old
Requires WP: 4.6
Tested up to: 6.8.12
Requires PHP: 8.0

Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

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.

79 / 100

Well optimized

Most to gain: Update recency

Update recency 57/100

Updated 476 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting

WP compatibility 100/100

Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer

Rating quality 65/100

5.0★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.25★ and held back under 25 reviews

Listing tuning 100/100

5 of 5 tags set · short description in place

To rank higher: Last updated 476 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.

Momentum

Losing ground

-2.0

Velocity

places per keyword, 27d

Breadth

of keywords climbing, 27d

-1.8

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
widget areas	#15	#22	down 5
learndash your tag	#15	#14	down 2
learning management system your tag	Not in the top 24
lms your tag	Not in the top 24
online courses your tag	Not in the top 24
widgets your tag	Not in the top 24

4 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 2 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

What to do about it

One page off on “learndash”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
“learning management system”, “lms” and “online courses” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.

Daily downloads

Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+61% vs prior 30d

1131 Oct 2026

120600

1131 Oct 2026

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peak 572 · peaks are release surges

23131 Oct 2026

6003000

23131 Oct 2026

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

Widget Areas for Lea · #8227youDesign Upgrade for L · #2685Masteriyo LMS · #2815Academy LMS · #4670

Health trend

Composite health score, snapshotted daily

6731 Oct 2026

756045

6731 Oct 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.

38531 Oct 2026

1K5000

38531 Oct 2026

Release cadence

No release in a year

from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

releases in the last 12 months

1.3y ago

latest release · v1.2 · 13 Jul 2025

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.2 · 13 Jul 20251.1 · 24 Jan 20221.0 · 19 Dec 2019

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 59% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.2 59%

v1.1 41%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “600+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate

600–700 ≈680

Crossed into this band 58 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 700.

Install history since 10 Aug 2020

60031 Oct 2026

1K5000

60031 Oct 2026

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗

★★★★★ robhoe1965
4.0y ago

Perfect to customize your LD views.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ haytov
5.1y ago

I have a big website for my online courses. using this plugin helped me customize the focus mode, which is very essential. Works perfect, very useful. and GREAT support
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ guy1
5.6y ago

Not only is the plugin great, but its creator also went more than the extra mile to help me.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ martenti
5.6y ago

This is Very Important Plugin (VIP) for all LD users. Works great. And please dont abandon the development, it’s very,very needed. Thank you! This topic was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by martenti.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ lahlahlande
6.2y ago

Great little plugin helping you to add additional content on Learndash screens. Very easy to use.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ Jorge Ocampo
6.3y ago

This is a must for anyone using LearnDash
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ lorilself
6.6y ago

Just used this plugin to add a forum button to my LearnDash course sidebar. Super easy to use, and now I’m trying to think of other ways I might want to customize my courses with this plugin. Thanks Dave!
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ Aline Mendes
6.8y ago

Just out of the box. Exactly what I needed to add a widget to Focus Mode.
Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.8.1

✓ Low memory footprint

✓ Low page-speed impact

✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP

✓ No PHP errors

✓ No JS errors

✓ Activates cleanly

✓ No resource errors

✓ No external HTTP errors

✓ Optimized database use

✕ Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 1 language, 0 at 90% or more · development strings

Dutch 35%

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 25 Oct 2026

Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.

✓ Says what it does "Add unlimited blocks/widgets to several areas of LearnDash Focus Mode, plus course & group pages."
✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 read like questions a user would type.
! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you need"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
✓ Names what it works with Mentions Elementor, Block editor, LearnDash.
✓ Headings and lists 9 headings and 8 lists.
✓ Enough to quote 5,237 characters of description.
! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("learning management system", "lms", "online courses" missing).

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

2026-09-04 700+ → 600+ down after 3 days in tier
2026-09-01 600+ → 700+ up after 2 days in tier
2026-08-30 700+ → 600+ down after 2 days in tier
2026-08-28 600+ → 700+ up after 3 days in tier
2026-08-25 700+ → 600+ down after 4 days in tier
2026-08-21 600+ → 700+ up after 4 days in tier
2026-08-17 700+ → 600+ down after 3 days in tier
2026-08-14 600+ → 700+ up 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).

Compare head to head →

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Widget Areas for LearnDash into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/widget-areas-learndash" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Widget Areas for LearnDash — Plugin Pulse"></iframe>

Preview card ↗

Widget Areas for LearnDash: 600+ active installs, 5.0★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/widget-areas-learndash

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