68
PDF Poster – Display PDF Files with Custom Viewer
Smooth PDF viewing until the admin bar ads start calling your name.
HealthyGrowing
68/100
The plugin provides easy embedding but includes annoying admin bar ads and Pro version friction.
Active installs
~46,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 20k+
Rating
4.5★
145 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+11%
Growing
204 → 226 installs/day
What to watch out for
- MINORreviews unevenly distributed over time
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 · +11% in the last year
204/day a year ago→226/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayPDF Poster is generally well-regarded as a simple, easy-to-use PDF display plugin with responsive developer support, but it carries notable caveats around aggressive upsell tactics, a paid upgrade process that has left at least one user unable to access what they purchased, and compatibility issues on certain devices and PHP versions.
What people like
- +Easy to install and use, with straightforward shortcode implementation and simple control visibility settings×4
- +Works reliably across browsers and mobile devices×2
- +Developer support is responsive and helpful×3
- +Active development with meaningful feature additions
Common complaints
- −Aggressive upsell ads injected into the WordPress Admin bar, with a non-functional dismiss button
- −Paid Pro upgrade is difficult or impossible to install after purchase, with poor follow-through from support
- −PDFs stop displaying entirely (black screen) after certain WordPress or plugin updates
- −Layout broken on iPad Mini — PDF text overlaps — persisting even after an update (since 2.1.24)
- −PHP 8.3 compatibility issues producing numerous deprecation errors
Review trustMostly organic
- 4.44★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.50★
- 31%One-shot reviewers — single-review accounts (common for popular plugins, but worth noting)
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2023-07-202025-01-102026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 145 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-05-20★★★★★World Class SupportSeth Chong1-shot
- 2026-05-08★★★★★The new PDF Poster Pro is outstanding!mvarela
- 2026-01-15★★★★★Easiest PDF plugin out therechiefsnake
- 2025-01-22★★★★★Excellent -lug-inwaprothero
- 2024-10-06★★★★★pdf not displayedjeanmarcg
- 2024-07-18★★★★★Not working in Ipad mini even after update 2.1.24Surendra
- 2024-04-19★★★★★Works great!ayilee28
- 2024-03-25★★★★★The plugin developer is not responding to fix the plugin issueSajjad Hossian
- 2024-02-20★★★★★Deprecated Errormyungho
- 2023-11-25★★★★★Put an Ad in the Admin Barelliottscott
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.
228
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
199
Prior 7-day baseline
232
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
7,010
Mean release-day peak (30d)
220
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+14.6%
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.
18%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.69
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
84%
5★ share in analyzed sample
31%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.49 → 4.44★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered