Years Ago Today
by Scott Reilly · Admin & Utilities
Also makes 64 other plugins · 78.4K+ installs across the portfolio →
Lists posts published to your site on this day in previous years via admin dashboard widget, block, shortcode, and/or optional daily email.
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
B 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈150 estimated
Momentum
-1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “admin” for “years”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “years” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
83 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.4%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 7.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,189 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.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 149 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
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.
36
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
14%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
-0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| today | #2 | #6 | 0 |
| ago | #2 | #5 | 0 |
| one time ago posts | #1 | #3 | 0 |
| one year ago posts | #1 | #4 | 0 |
| coffee2code your tag | #3 | #5 | 0 |
| years | #5 | #13 | down 2 |
| on this day your tag | #16 | #18 | up 1 |
| this day in history | #22 | #20 | 0 |
| admin your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| dashboard your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| history your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
23 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 15 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “admin” for “years”. “admin” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “years” sits at #5 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “on this day”. #16 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 1 Nov 2024 · 730 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 141 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ 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.
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.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Modeled within the band wp.org reports; tightens as we track daily.
Install history since 15 Sep 2026
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 3 languages, 0 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 25 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Lists posts published to your site on this day in previous years via admin dashboard widget, block, shortco..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 7 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 7 of 7 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 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 1,856 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "coffee2code", "history" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
No tier crossings observed yet.
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).
-
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 -
Widget Disable 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Erident Custom Login and Dashboard 7K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags C -
Announce from the Dashboard 7K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags C
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Years Ago Today into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/years-ago-today" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Years Ago Today — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Years Ago Today: 100+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/years-ago-today
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