48
A classic forum tool left out in the WordPress rain.
DecliningPoor rating
48/100
This once popular forum plugin now feels abandoned and frequently breaks on modern WordPress installations.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
3.9★
343 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-49%
Declining fast
930 → 471 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MAJORverified rating is 3.31★
- MINORdownloads down 49% vs a year ago
- MINORnot updated in 11 months
Downloads over time
real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03
organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median
Declining fast · -49% in the last year
930/day a year ago→471/day today
Reviews
what people actually saybbPress was once a go-to forum plugin for WordPress but is now widely regarded as abandoned and unreliable, with the dominant caveat being that it has gone years without updates and frequently breaks on current WordPress versions.
What people like
- +Can successfully import large phpBB forums into WordPress quickly and without errors
Common complaints
- −Plugin has not been updated in roughly two years and is widely considered abandoned×6
- −Causes blank/white pages on current WordPress versions×4
- −No support for block themes
- −Support is non-existent or actively hostile — posts deleted, questions unanswered×2
- −Outdated UI and missing features compared to modern forum software
- −AJAX-based functionality broken, causing compatibility issues with plugins like BuddyPress
- −Requires third-party fix plugins just to resolve basic issues like the keymaster role, with further glitches remaining
- −Tablet layout not responsive — displays desktop two-column layout instead of mobile-friendly single column
- −Concerns about leftover database garbage after uninstallation
Review trustReviews look organic
- 3.31★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 3.90★
- 18%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 343 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2025-12-14★★★★★A historic plugin that is still usefulLuke Garrison
- 2025-09-28★★★★★Да вроде бы хорошо работаетmystick3
- 2025-09-21★★★★★whitehonkitamc
- 2025-05-20★★★★★Abandonned plugin and buggyvyrtuozz11-shot
- 2025-03-25★★★★★so old nowLi-An
- 2025-01-23★★★★★Is not trustablejruiz
- 2024-10-17★★★★★We have detected vulnerability with pluginDipakkumar Parmar
- 2024-09-21★★★★★Poor coding skillspriyam1234
- 2024-09-14★★★★★Unusable. looks like abandoned.Salvatore Noschese
- 2024-08-22★★★★★Please extend Mobile phone layout for Tablets as wellNaovy G
Releases
recent versions from WordPress.org SVNFor developers & the curious
the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary aboveDownload signals
Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.
469
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
438
Prior 7-day baseline
404
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
453
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+7.1%
Week-over-week organic trend
Review signals
Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.
10%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.27
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
49%
5★ share in analyzed sample
18%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
3.40 → 3.31★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered