WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress
by Syed Balkhi · Performance
Also makes 98 other plugins · 21.7M+ installs across the portfolio →
The easiest way to improve your website's security, performance, and user experience.
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
200+
≈280 estimated
Momentum
+35%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “disable comments”, “disable gutenberg” and “disable rest api” 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 69 average across 1,806 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.0%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,099 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance 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 4+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Falling behind WordPress. Tested up to WordPress 5.9.20.
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 1657 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 5.9.20; the current branch is 6.8
4.5★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1657 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| wpcontrol | #3 | #2 | 0 |
| disable comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| disable gutenberg your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| disable rest api your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| performance your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| security your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
6 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 5 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
- “disable comments”, “disable gutenberg” and “disable rest api” 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.
- Already on top for “wpcontrol”. #3 without listing it. A tag would change little there; your slots are better spent on a search you don't yet win.
Daily downloads
Since 6 Oct 2022 · 1,486 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 161 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
4.5y ago
latest release · v1.0.1 · 18 Apr 2022
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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 21 months ago; the previous band took 2.1 years to cross, which places it about 82% of the way through.
Install history since 28 May 2022
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.4.8 · WP 6.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 1 language, 1 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
5 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "The easiest way to improve your website's security, performance, and user experience."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("designed for"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg, Block editor, WPForms, Google Analytics and 1 more.
- ✓ Headings and lists 3 headings and 3 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 6,181 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-02-13 100+ → 200+ up after 766 days in tier
- 2023-01-09 90+ → 100+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2023-01-07 100+ → 90+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2023-01-05 90+ → 100+ up after 37 days in tier
- 2022-11-29 80+ → 90+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2022-11-27 90+ → 80+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2022-11-20 80+ → 90+ up after 11 days in tier
- 2022-11-09 70+ → 80+ up after 32 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).
-
ManageWP Worker 1M+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ installs · 4.8★ · 1 shared tag B -
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Hostinger Tools 3M+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wpcontrol" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress: 200+ active installs, 4.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wpcontrol
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.