WP Hotmail SMTP
by inkthemes · Email & Marketing
Also makes 4 other plugins · 2.8K+ installs across the portfolio →
With WP Hotmail SMTP plugin you can connect Hotmail to your WordPress website for sending emails. It bypasses the normal WP mail function and sends em …
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 45/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
20+
≈28 estimated
Momentum
+18%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: “hotmail smtp” and “smtp” 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.
45 health vs 66 average across 2,134 Email & Marketing plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.5%
of downloads still active
At least 20 of 3.9K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Email & Marketing plugin keeps 0.9%, across 1,297 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Email & Marketing 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 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.9.35, well behind 7.1.
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 2996 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.9.35; the current branch is 7.1
5.0★ over 1 review, weighted for review count to 4.1★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2996 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| wp hotmail smtp your tag | #22 | #24 | — |
| hotmail protocol your tag | Not checked yet | ||
| hotmail smtp your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| smtp your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
1 search this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “hotmail smtp” and “smtp” 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 3 Nov 2024 · 730 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 68 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #25,400 to #28,300, alongside the other plugins at 20+ 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
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “20+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 9 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 30.
Install history since 15 Sep 2026
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.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 1 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "With WP Hotmail SMTP plugin you can connect Hotmail to your WordPress website for sending emails. It bypass..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 1 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! 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 764 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "hotmail protocol" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-25 30+ → 20+ down
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).
-
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag A -
Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag A -
GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B -
Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Email Deliverability – SMTP Replacement, Email API Deliverability & Email Log 200K+ installs · 3.1★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WP Hotmail SMTP into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-hotmail-smtp" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WP Hotmail SMTP — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WP Hotmail SMTP: 20+ active installs, 5.0★ (1 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-hotmail-smtp
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