77
Advanced Editor Tools
A nostalgic formatting boost that might hold your content hostage.
HealthyDecliningAutomattic
77/100
The plugin restores familiar formatting tools but creates a dependency that can trap content.
Active installs
~1.5 million
our estimate · wp.org shows 1.0M+
Rating
4.5★
355 ratings
Trend · vs a year ago
-22%
Declining
1,782 → 1,397 installs/day
Warnings
- Distributed from inside Automattic's main product (Jetpack / WooCommerce / Akismet ecosystem) — growth is partly captive.
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 · -22% in the last year
1,782/day a year ago→1,397/day today
Reviews
what people actually sayAdvanced Editor Tools is a generally appreciated plugin for restoring classic/word-processor-style formatting controls to the WordPress editor, but it carries a serious caveat: deactivating it can leave content trapped in uneditable blocks, and compatibility with WordPress 6.5 broke the plugin entirely for some users.
What people like
- +Restores familiar word-processor formatting tools that the block editor lacks×5
- +Works well alongside Classic Editor for users not ready to fully adopt Gutenberg×3
- +The Classic Paragraph block lets users access the old editor experience within Gutenberg
- +Useful specific tools such as table formatting and text color highlighting×2
- +Easy setup and generally stable day-to-day operation×2
Common complaints
- −Deactivating the plugin makes content inside its auto-inserted containers uneditable, requiring manual fixes across all affected pages
- −Broke entirely after the WordPress 6.5 update (since 6.5)×2
- −Support was dismissive and unhelpful when users reported the WordPress 6.5 breakage
- −Feels limited in some areas and doesn't offer full formatting control×3
- −Can make updating posts more complicated
- −Occasionally buggy
Review trustReviews look organic
- 4.40★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.50★
- 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 · 355 total
Latest reviews · 90 analyzed
- 2026-06-03★★★★★My Clients Love Itnicole581-shot
- 2026-05-20★★★★★finally a real editorMisty
- 2026-04-21★★★★★Okay but Basicelaindougall
- 2026-04-08★★★★★Good, but can improveLeila Lia
- 2026-03-30★★★★★Useful for Editingreedvieira
- 2026-03-06★★★★★Helpful Editor UpgradeBennett
- 2025-09-26★★★★★Destroys your editing of website when deactivated.gpotter
- 2025-06-09★★★★★Quick Take: Advanced Editor Tools – Your Gutenberg Safety NetAvir Media
- 2025-05-06★★★★★Helpful Toolskiyasu
- 2025-04-21★★★★★Excellenttkoc
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.
1,562
Baseline · median of last 7 organic days
1,337
Prior 7-day baseline
930
Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days
2,004
Mean release-day peak (30d)
1,668
Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)
+16.8%
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.
9%
Max month share · biggest single 30-day window
1.03
Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty
76%
5★ share in analyzed sample
6%
Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity
—
Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo
4.38 → 4.40★
Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered