86
Shortcode Widget
The tiny hero restoring your favorite old widget features.
HealthyGrowing
86/100
Users appreciate this simple tool for restoring shortcode support to the widget area.
Active installs
~15,000
our estimate · wp.org shows 10k+
Rating
4.9★
34 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
+10%
Growing
46 → 51 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 · +10% in the last year
46/day a year ago→51/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayShortcode Widget is widely praised for its simplicity and reliable ability to add shortcodes to widgets, though it is primarily valued for fixing issues introduced in newer WordPress versions.
What people like
- +Very simple and easy to use, with straightforward installation×4
- +Provides core-like functionality that many feel should be built into WordPress×2
- +Allows shortcodes to be placed in widgets, solving problems caused by theme restrictions or WordPress 4.8’s visual editor changes×5
- +Works reliably for custom shortcodes and specific use-cases (e.g., NextGEN galleries, custom fields)×2
- +No upselling or hidden costs; does one job and stays focused
Common complaints
Review trustMostly organic
- 4.88★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.90★
- 6%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members
- past spikeReview timing — up to 100% of all reviews landed in a single month
Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower
2025-06-092025-12-062026-06-04
5★ reviews1–4★ reviews
All-time ratings · 34 total
Latest reviews · 34 analyzed
- 2025-05-16★★★★★THANK YOUeaec
- 2019-09-14★★★★★Awesome pluginDestinationUkiyo
- 2019-09-08★★★★★Useful Pluginsonsuzteknoloji
- 2018-08-21★★★★★It works fine!junglesub
- 2017-11-25★★★★★Perfectpetejrawlings
- 2017-09-19★★★★★Simple and awesomefranboud
- 2017-07-26★★★★★That was easymikerich1-shot
- 2017-07-20★★★★★PerfectCabrero
- 2017-07-11★★★★★The plain text widget is back with this oneEduardoWB
- 2017-06-24★★★★★Total Lifesavergcvartdirector1-shot
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.
48
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
44
Prior 7-day baseline
38
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
55
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+9.1%
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.
100%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
3.46
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
94%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.88 → 4.88★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered