Comment Experience by Progress Planner
by Progress Planner · Security
Also makes 6 other plugins · 10.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Make comments management easier by applying the simple hacks Joost has gathered over the years.
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
C 66/100
no flags
Active installs
500+
≈550 estimated
Momentum
-9%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Add “planner”, “hacks” and “cve” to your wp.org tags. You rank #12, #15 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
66 health vs 66 average across 1,776 Security plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 500 of 71.8K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Security plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,061 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Security plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 2 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 356 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12, the current branch or newer
3.5★ over 13 reviews, smoothed to 3.98★ and held back under 25 reviews
3 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.
42
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.7
Velocity
places per keyword, 26d
36%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 26d
-0.6
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| planner | #12 | #18 | down 4 |
| hacks | #15 | #22 | up 1 |
| cve | #23 | #16 | down 1 |
| comments your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| emails your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
15 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 3 listed. 12 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
- Add “planner”, “hacks” and “cve” to your wp.org tags. You rank #12, #15 and #23 for them without listing them, close enough for a declared tag to move you up. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so with 3 listed these are the slots worth spending.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2K · 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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
2
releases in the last 12 months
12mo ago
latest release · v2.1.6 · 10 Nov 2025
21
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 30% 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 “500+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 8 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 27 May 2017
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Anonymous3.9y ago
The update of this plugin cause a critical error on my site and took the whole site down. Do not recommend. This topic was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by microtribe.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Bahus3.9y ago
It only helped to remove the plugin folder from the hosting.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ soaresrey3.9y ago
Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Class “JoostBlog\WP\Comment\Inc\Hacks” not found in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/yoast-comment-hacks/yoast-comment-hacks.php:53 Stack trace: #0 /var/www/html/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php(2314): include_once() #1 /var/www/html/wp-admin/plugins.php(192): plugin_sandbox_scrape() #2 {main} thrown in /var/www/html/wp-content/plugins/yoast-comment-hacks/yoast-comment-hacks.php on line 53
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ nittygrittytechy5.2y ago
I am sorry to leave you a 1 star, but your plugin does not work. Plus there is no instructions on how to use this plugin. I have click on the email icon a lot and nothing happens. The link looks like this (not putting my real email here) mailto:[email protected]?subject=RE%3A%20Why%20Did%20Jesus%20Come%20To%20earth%3F&body=Hi%20Living%2C%0D%0A%0D%0ALiving%20His%20Word%20has%20responded%20to%20your%20comment%2Fprayer%20or%20approved%20your%20comment%2Fprayer.%20Thank%20you%20for%20leaving%20your%20comment%2Fprayer%20on%20%22Why%20Did%20Jesus%20Come%20To%20earth%3F%22%20-%20https%3A%2F%2Flivinghisword.org%2Fwhy-did-jesus-come-to-earth%2F%0D%0A%0D%0AGod%20Bless%20You%21%0D%0ALiving%20His%20Word%20Ministries%2C%20Inc.%0D%0Awww.livinghisword.org%0D%0Aresponse%40livinghisword.org Okay now what? If you can tell me how this plugin works and I can get to work, this would be wonderful but if not then I will leave my review. Thank you
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ sinazn5.6y ago
The email section does not appear and does not work
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dannydanny6.4y ago
No warnings when the comment is too long. Someone could spend an hour writing a comment and then get the message that their comment is too long. It would be nice if, when someone reached the limit, a warning is given (Hey, you’ve reached your limit) No information given after the fact. For example, if I’m 1000 characters over the limit it’d be nice to get a message that says, “You’re 1000 characters over the limit,” instead of, “Your comment is too long. Try again.” or whatever it says. Great idea but not a good implementation.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ onialex19.7y ago
Doesn’t send any emails to the commentators. False description.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Siam ลอตเตอรี่10.3y ago
this plugin add more comment setting, easy to costomize.
Read on wp.org ↗
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 31 languages, 2 at 90% or more
Plus 7 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
3 of 8 pass · checked 29 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Make comments management easier by applying the simple hacks Joost has gathered over the years."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); say who the plugin is for and 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 1,407 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 2 of 3 tags appear in the text; "spam" does not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-02-22 600+ → 500+ down after 218 days in tier
- 2025-07-19 700+ → 600+ down after 80 days in tier
- 2025-04-30 800+ → 700+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-04-29 700+ → 800+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2025-04-27 800+ → 700+ down after 59 days in tier
- 2025-02-27 900+ → 800+ down after 41 days in tier
- 2025-01-17 1K+ → 900+ down after 671 days in tier
- 2023-03-18 2K+ → 1K+ down after 1 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).
-
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A - C Cookies for Comments 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags D
- T Throws SPAM Away 10K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A
- D Delete Pending Comments 8K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags C
-
Simply Disable Comments 8K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Comment Experience by Progress Planner into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/yoast-comment-hacks" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Comment Experience by Progress Planner — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Comment Experience by Progress Planner: 500+ active installs, 3.5★ (13 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/yoast-comment-hacks
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