83
No Category Base (WPML)
A quick fix for category slugs that might break your multisite setup.
HealthyGrowing
83/100
It simplifies category URLs effectively but lacks custom taxonomy support and can cause issues on multisite networks.
Active installs
~150,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+
Rating
4.5★
34 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+282%
Growing fast
140 → 534 installs/day
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
Growing fast · +282% in the last year
140/day a year ago→534/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayNo Category Base (WPML) is a well-regarded, lightweight plugin that reliably removes the category base from URLs for most users, but carries notable caveats around multisite permalink breakage, lack of 301 redirects for old URLs, and a recent intrusive data-collection prompt added to the dashboard.
What people like
- +Simple, zero-configuration setup — installs and works immediately without any settings to configure×5
- +Reliably removes the category base and avoids 404 errors that competing plugins (e.g. Yoast) can cause×2
- +Handles redirects from old category URLs, preventing broken links after activation
Common complaints
- −A modal popup was added to the dashboard prompting users to opt in to personal data collection for marketing purposes
- −Repeatedly breaks permalinks on WordPress Multisite (WPMU) network-activated installs×2
- −Old category URLs return 404 instead of a proper 301 redirect, which is problematic for established sites
- −Does not work with custom taxonomies and custom post types
- −One review alleges the plugin loads malicious third-party scripts (terrout1.biz / traficsend)
Review trustMostly organic
- 4.63★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.50★
- 6%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- past spikeReview timing — up to 33% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-12-172025-03-112026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 34 total
Latest reviews · 34 analyzed
- 2026-04-12★★★★★Adwaregabbsmo
- 2024-11-06★★★★★Perfect !mengeco
- 2023-12-07★★★★★Life saving plugindelrod
- 2023-06-03★★★★★Good!Jakob Helmer
- 2023-01-24★★★★★WorkingWeb Building
- 2021-03-27★★★★★It does not work with custom taxonomies and custom post type.ricardofrdrc
- 2020-10-30★★★★★Quick Relif From Sub-Category 404 ProblemImran Sayyad
- 2020-05-22★★★★★Great pluginLígia ‘Lilly' Freitas
- 2019-11-06★★★★★Hacklenmişelbisesi1-shot
- 2019-07-30★★★★★It saved my website structure!Gina Anagnostopoulou
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.
425
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
527
Prior 7-day baseline
308
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
1,411
Mean release-day peak (30d)
586
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
-19.4%
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.
33%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
3.06
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
85%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.53 → 4.63★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered