Remove WP Dashboard Extra Widgets
by Ahmad Awais · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 5 other plugins · 2.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Removes the WordPress dashboard widgets that are extra and useless for some users i.e. plugins, wp blog news etc
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
40+
≈48 estimated
Momentum
+8%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “admin”, “dashboard” and “remove” 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 56 average across 5,902 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 40 of 5.9K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,192 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
53/100Maintenance 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 6+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.4.0.
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 2431 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.4.0; the current branch is 6.8
4.7★ over 3 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ and held back under 25 reviews
4 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 2431 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| remove your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| widgets your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
0 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days. 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “admin”, “dashboard” and “remove” 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 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 79 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #21,400 to #22,800, alongside the other plugins at 40+ 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.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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.
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
6.7y ago
latest release · v2.1.0 · 7 Mar 2020
2
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 “40+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 50.
Install history since 22 Mar 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ ABCDiamond6.1y ago
A very simple plugin. Just install and activate, and all the widgets on the dashboard disappeared… except for the main one that I wanted gone. A widget placed by one of the plugins. I had hoped it would only remove the widgets from everyone except Admin, but even the admin account lost them, with no way to get them back without uninstalling this plugin. The plugin is titled: “Remove WP Dashboard Extra Widgets” It removes all the normal ones, not just the extra ones. If this had an option to remove from everyone except admin, it would be very handy.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Luke Skybroker8.1y ago
This was EXACTLY what I wanted so that subscribers don’t see all the bloat in their dashboard when updated their WP profile. Removes senseless distractions and eliminates subscriber questions unrelated to your site.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Robey Lawrence8.6y ago
I am working on a multisite with 6 child sites and many users. The majority of the dashboard widgets are irrelevant to most. All I had to do was install and network activate this, and then everyone had a clean dashboard! 👍
Read on wp.org ↗
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
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 "Removes the WordPress dashboard widgets that are extra and useless for some users i.e. plugins, wp blog new..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! 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 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 112 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 4 tags appear in the text; "admin" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-07 50+ → 40+ down after 21 days in tier
- 2026-07-17 40+ → 50+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-07-10 50+ → 40+ down after 14 days in tier
- 2026-06-26 40+ → 50+ up after 30 days in tier
- 2026-05-27 50+ → 40+ down after 54 days in tier
- 2026-04-03 60+ → 50+ down after 77 days in tier
- 2026-01-16 70+ → 60+ down after 89 days in tier
- 2025-10-19 80+ → 70+ down 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).
-
Widget Disable 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 3 shared tags A -
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
White Label CMS 200K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Display PHP Version 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D - S SpiceBox 20K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B
-
Desert Companion 10K+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Remove WP Dashboard Extra Widgets into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-remove-dashboard-extra-widgets" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Remove WP Dashboard Extra Widgets — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Remove WP Dashboard Extra Widgets: 40+ active installs, 4.7★ (3 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-02. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-remove-dashboard-extra-widgets
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