Plugin profile · observed daily since 02 Aug 2026
Better Menu Widget
Active installs600+ rounded
Current authorTracey Holinka
Owner changesNone while we have been watching
Last release7.5 years ago 09 Feb 2019
Support— no recent threads
Releases on record8
Rating4.2 /5 · 5
Added to directory07 Mar 2013
Requires WP4.5
Requires PHPfalse
Version lag2.2 behind
Tested up toWP 4.9.31 WordPress is now on 7.1
PluginPedia reports published data and observable changes. It does not rate plugin quality or safety, infer intent, or make recommendations. These are observations rather than a verdict. How this works
Ownership
Held by Tracey Holinka throughout, with no change of ownership observed since daily tracking began on 02 Aug 2026.
Full observed history, including every field transition
Committing accounts
Read from the plugin’s public release log, so these predate this registry. A committing account is not an owner. Thirty accounts commit to WooCommerce and it has never changed hands.
| Account | Releases | First | Last |
|---|---|---|---|
| TraceyHolinka | 8 | 07 Mar 2013 | 09 Feb 2019 |
This registry did not observe a transfer; it read these names off a public log. Whether that reflects a change of ownership is not something the directory publishes.
Adoption
How widely the plugin is installed, and what the people running it think of it. WordPress.org rounds install figures to one significant digit, so they describe an order of magnitude rather than a headcount.
Small but established: 600+ active installs. Enough sites to show it works in the wild, too few for adoption to say much on its own.
3 downloads a day over the last 7 days, rising 100% against the 7 days before. Downloads are counted exactly and without a ceiling, so they show movement the rounded install figure cannot.
08 Aug 2026peak 11/day29 Aug 2026
Daily record
Every field we record, one column per observation. Fields that never moved are named once rather than repeated across every column. A row of identical numbers would be padding.
| Field | 16 Aug | 17 Aug | 18 Aug | 19 Aug | 20 Aug | 21 Aug | 22 Aug | 23 Aug | 24 Aug | 25 Aug | 26 Aug | 27 Aug | 28 Aug | 29 Aug |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads that day | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
Unchanged throughout: ratings total (5) · active installs (600+) · version (1.5.1) · support threads (0) · threads resolved (0)
28 days of observation, most recent 14 shown.
Maintenance
When it was last released, and how far its declared compatibility has drifted from current WordPress.
Added to directory13 years ago 07 Mar 2013
Requires WP4.5
Requires PHPfalse
Version lag2.2 behind
Is anyone still maintaining this?
- No release in 2,758 days (7.6 years). The last was 09 Feb 2019.
- Declares compatibility only up to WordPress 4.9.31, while 7.1 is current. The author has not confirmed it runs on the last 22 releases.
- Tracey Holinka publishes no other plugin in the directory, so there is no wider activity to compare against.
A plugin that does one thing correctly may need no changes for years; a long gap is not, by itself, evidence of neglect.
History
Everything dated that this registry holds about the plugin, most recent first. Releases carry the author’s own release date; everything else is dated to when it was observed.
Entries marked from the release log predate this registry, and daily observation began 02 Aug 2026. They were read from the plugin’s public SVN history after the fact, not watched as they happened. Everything else was observed directly.
- 02 Aug 202628 days agoFirst observed by PluginPediaDaily snapshots of this plugin’s directory record begin here. Everything above this line is observed; anything before it comes from fields the API itself reports.
- 02 Aug 20206 years agoDormancy threshold crossed540 days since the last release (2019-02-09). Dormancy is a maintenance observation, not a judgement about the owner.
- 09 Feb 20197.5 years agoVersion 1.5.1 released
- 30 Jan 20188.5 years agoVersion 1.5 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 15 Jul 201511 years agoVersion 1.4.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 09 Mar 201511 years agoVersion 1.4 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 19 Jun 201412 years agoVersion 1.3 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 27 Jan 201412 years agoVersion 1.2 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 13 Dec 201312 years agoVersion 1.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 07 Mar 201313 years agoVersion 1.0 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by TraceyHolinka.
- 07 Mar 201313 years agoAdded to the WordPress.org directoryReported by the plugin API as the date this plugin was added.
What we know, and what we don’t
Everything on this page in one place, including the gaps, so that nothing here is mistaken for a clean bill of health.
What we know
- It has been held by Tracey Holinka for all 28 days we have observed it.
- It was last released 7.5 years ago (09 Feb 2019).
- Its author declares it tested up to WordPress 4.9.31; WordPress is now on 7.1.
- WordPress.org reports 600+ active installs.
- It carries 5 ratings, averaging 4.2 out of 5.
What we don’t know yet
- No forum threads were open in the two months we measure, so how responsive its support is cannot be said. One new thread starts answering that.
What can’t be known
- Whether the quiet is neglect or a finished plugin. That is the author’s intent, which no dataset records, and a stable plugin can need no changes for years.
Every record on this site, this one included, works under the same limits. We read what WordPress.org publishes about a plugin, never the plugin’s own code, so nothing here says whether a plugin is well built or safe. Install counts reach us already rounded; a change smaller than a band step doesn’t show. We don’t track security advisories yet. For anything older than our first observation we rely on the plugin’s public release log, where one exists. What this registry can and cannot see
Similar plugins
This plugin has not been updated in a long time. These carry the same tags and describe themselves in the same terms, so they are a starting point for a replacement, not a recommendation. Check them yourself.
Import Export Menu
Import, export, and manage WordPress navigation menus. Safely migrate menu structures between sites with hierarchy, locations, and item settings intac …
2,000+ installs4.3★ (9)updated 06 Jun 2026
Compare side by side Responsive Navigation Block
Complete control over your navigation menus based on screen size including styles and menu items.
1,000+ installs5.0★ (5)updated 27 Sep 2025
Compare side by side Shortcode in Menus
Allows you to add shortcodes in WordPress Navigation Menus.
50,000+ installs4.7★ (82)updated 10 Feb 2026
83× the installs
Compare side by side WP Widget in Navigation
Put your Widget in Navigation easily!
3,000+ installs4.7★ (15)updated 23 Feb 2026
Compare side by side Float menu – awesome floating side menu
Easily create floating menus of varying complexity. Use its capabilities to place unique navigation on the site.
30,000+ installs4.4★ (41)updated 25 Aug 2026
50× the installs
Compare side by side Off-Canvas Sidebars & Menus (Slidebars)
Add off-canvas sidebars (Slidebars) containing widgets, menus or other content using the Slidebars jQuery plugin.
1,000+ installs4.8★ (38)updated 02 Feb 2026
Compare side by side Grouped from the tags each author chose for their own plugin, so the grouping is only as good as those tags.
Reach out about this record
Corrections, missing context, or anything else about Better Menu Widget: a person reads every submission, and corrections get a reply within 5 business days.