WP First Letter Avatar
by DanielAGW · Uncategorized
Also makes 1 other plugin · 2.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Set custom avatars for users with no Gravatar. The avatar will be the first (or any other) letter of user's name on a colorful background.
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 50/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
2K+
≈2.5K estimated
Momentum
+7%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “avatars”, “change avatar” and “comments” 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.
50 health vs 58 average across 25,735 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.9%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 69.6K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,764 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 9+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39, 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 3521 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
4.7★ over 33 reviews, smoothed to 4.34★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3521 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| avatars your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| change avatar your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| custom avatar your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| discussion your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “avatars”, “change avatar” and “comments” 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
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 567 · 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
9.6y ago
latest release · v2.2.8 · 11 Mar 2017
25
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 13 months ago; the previous band took 22 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 11 Dec 2019
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ monolitstudio2.2y ago
I tried to use this feature but only the standard avatars from wordpress were displayed
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Domingo Piñeiro6.4y ago
The plugin didn’t work on my site.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ gpowerhost8.4y ago
If you set the “Use Gravatar” to “unchecked” it does not send all of that data to WordPress. We like the ability that we can craft our own Avatar sets and control the exact style of the images.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ zepolo8.7y ago
It was last updated 1 year 11 months ago and tested up to WordPress 4.7.12. It may have compatibility problems with the current version of WordPress or unknown security issues. It works nice. installation is very very easy ! Fast as Light plugin, very usefull.Lot of visitors doesn’t know how work custom gravatars Plugin bring more colors into our blogs thank you for this work This topic was modified 7 years, 4 months ago by zepolo.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mrkenobi8.8y ago
Plugin works as described. Works great on any properly configured wp installation on php7.1x. Looks like a future-proof plugin. Something like this should be integrated to the core. Great work guys
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Sandra9.0y ago
This plugin works perfectly for getting rid of gravatar http requests. I deactivated the gravatar check and now I have nice letters and my users won’t be tracked 🙂 It works nice together with WP User Avatar, so I can have my own picture for comment responses. Thank you very much !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ RickMarx9.6y ago
These developers deliver on what they promise the plugin would do. The installation is just crazy easy and flawless. No issues with anything about this plugin. OUTSTANDING Developers.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ revixi59.6y ago
For a standard use, no other plugins messing with avatars, it works perfectly. I even made my own set of images that fit with my theme and replace manually the “default” folder.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.2.8 Added 2 new avatar sets (opensans and roboto) – thanks flector! 2.2.8
- — Version 2.2.7 Added option to pass additional arguments to get_avatar() – thanks dpsjorge! (for developers only) 2.2.7
- — Version 2.2.6.1 Fixed get_currentuserinfo() function deprecated notice 2.2.6.1
- — Version 2.2.6 Fixed undeclared variable notice Fixed mbstring extension error 2.2.6
- — Version 2.2.5 Added Polish translation Fixed problem with bbPress avatars 2.2.5
- — Version 2.2.4 Added fallback for Polish letters (thanks Micha�!) Plugin prepared for translations (contributors are welcome!) 2.2.4
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 125 languages, 2 at 90% or more · development strings
Plus 101 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 27 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 6 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 6 of 6 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 bbPress, BuddyPress.
- ! Headings and lists 2 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,512 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("change avatar", "comments", "discussion" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-10-12 3K+ → 2K+ down after 657 days in tier
- 2023-12-25 4K+ → 3K+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2023-12-22 3K+ → 4K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2023-12-21 4K+ → 3K+ down after 707 days in tier
- 2022-01-13 5K+ → 4K+ down after 1150 days in tier
- 2018-11-20 4K+ → 5K+ up after 568 days in tier
- 2017-05-01 3K+ → 4K+ up after 202 days in tier
- 2016-10-11 2K+ → 3K+ up after 284 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).
-
BuddyPress First Letter Avatar 100+ installs · 4.5★ · 4 shared tags D -
No Page Comment 10K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags B -
Disable Comments 9K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags D -
Decent Comments 2K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags B -
Comment Notifier 400+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags A - P Post Comments as bbPress Topics 300+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WP First Letter Avatar into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-first-letter-avatar" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WP First Letter Avatar — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WP First Letter Avatar: 2K+ active installs, 4.7★ (33 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-first-letter-avatar
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