Plugin profile · observed daily since 02 Aug 2026
Simple ads.txt
Active installs1,000+ rounded
Current authorBensword
Owner changesNone while we have been watching
Last release8.5 years ago 26 Dec 2017
Support— no recent threads
Releases on record1
Rating4.0 /5 · 4
Added to directory26 Dec 2017
Requires WP3
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 Bensword throughout, with no change of ownership observed since daily tracking began on 02 Aug 2026.
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.
Moderately adopted: 1,000+ active installs. A real user base, well short of the ecosystem’s larger plugins.
15 downloads a day over the last 7 days, rising 12% 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 33/day07 Sep 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 | 25 Aug | 26 Aug | 27 Aug | 28 Aug | 29 Aug | 30 Aug | 31 Aug | 01 Sep | 02 Sep | 03 Sep | 04 Sep | 05 Sep | 06 Sep | 07 Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads that day | — | 12 | 22 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 23 | 0 | 11 | 33 | 11 | 11 | 13 |
Unchanged throughout: ratings total (4) · active installs (1,000+) · version (1.0) · support threads (0) · threads resolved (0)
37 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 directory8.5 years ago 26 Dec 2017
Requires WP3
Requires PHPfalse
Version lag2.2 behind
Is anyone still maintaining this?
- No release in 3,177 days (8.7 years). The last was 26 Dec 2017.
- 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.
- Bensword 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.
- 02 Aug 20261 month 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.
- 19 Jun 20197 years agoDormancy threshold crossed540 days since the last release (2017-12-26). Dormancy is a maintenance observation, not a judgement about the owner.
- 26 Dec 20178.5 years agoVersion 1.0 released
- 26 Dec 20178.5 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 Bensword for all 37 days we have observed it.
- It was last released 8.5 years ago (26 Dec 2017).
- Its author declares it tested up to WordPress 4.9.31; WordPress is now on 7.1.
- WordPress.org reports 1,000+ active installs.
- It carries 4 ratings, averaging 4.0 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
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Reach out about this record
Corrections, missing context, or anything else about Simple ads.txt: a person reads every submission, and corrections get a reply within 5 business days.