71
Shortcode in Menus
A lightweight menu helper that is currently ghosting its users.
HealthyDeclining
71/100
The plugin works well for many but lacks developer support and regular updates.
Active installs
~55,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 50k+
Rating
4.7★
82 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-12%
Declining
51 → 45 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
Declining · -12% in the last year
51/day a year ago→45/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayShortcode in Menus is a lightweight, well-liked plugin for its simplicity and core functionality, but it has a notable reliability problem for some users and shows signs of being effectively abandoned by its developer.
What people like
- +Works as advertised for most users — renders shortcodes inside nav menus without complications×8
- +Reported to be compatible with various themes, including Elementor menus×2
- +Simple and fast with no performance complaints×3
Common complaints
- −Does not work for some users — shortcode in a custom link field triggers a WordPress 'Please provide a valid link' error, contradicting the plugin's own example images×2
- −Developer support is largely absent; many support topics go unacknowledged×2
- −Plugin has not been updated in over a year and is considered by at least one user to be no longer meaningfully supported
- −Shortcode entry disappears from the menu item field after saving, making it hard to review or edit
- −Settings/documentation are unclear or do not match what users actually see in the admin panel
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.73★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.70★
- 6%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 · 82 total
Latest reviews · 82 analyzed
- 2026-03-10★★★★★‘Please provide a valid link.'andrebell82
- 2024-03-12★★★★★Please don't let this plugin die..Namaste
- 2023-12-11★★★★★Didn't work for memadbirdesign
- 2023-09-15★★★★★Didn't work for me….pebworthbells1-shot
- 2023-08-05★★★★★Thank you!schroederskater
- 2023-02-10★★★★★The perfect shortcode in menu plugin!basbuis
- 2023-02-01★★★★★Excellent PluginWordaspect
- 2022-12-14★★★★★Work Great, no need mega menu, i just need thisaldhydany1-shot
- 2022-06-09★★★★★Works Wonderfully!Website Dude
- 2022-05-18★★★★★Works with Elementor Menu alsoigenlabs
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.
44
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
41
Prior 7-day baseline
31
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
36
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+7.3%
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.
20%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
2.45
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
90%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.70 → 4.73★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered