Method.
What we check, where it comes from, and what it does not mean.
──── What we check ────
Last verified release
The most recent published version we can verify, including maintenance and bug-fix releases. From the vendor's changelog, the repository, or the listing page.
Versions behind
How many WordPress major releases have shipped since the product's “tested up to” version.
Support activity
The share of support threads marked resolved, where a public support forum exists.
Still sold
Whether the product is currently for sale, and at what price.
──── How we read it ────
Each status comes from one date: the last published version we can verify, maintenance and bug-fix releases included.
ALIVE
Under 3 months since the last verified release.
QUIET
3 months to under 6 months.
ZOMBIE
6 months to under 12 months.
DEAD
12 months or longer. This is our label for release inactivity. It does not need an announcement from the developer or a decision by wordpress.org.
No history
The vendor publishes no usable changelog, so no date can be verified.
Not tracked
Nobody has supplied a source for this plugin yet.
Source unavailable
The source didn't respond when we checked. That says nothing about releases.
Possible match
A similar name we couldn't confirm by vendor and source. Shown as a suggestion, never as a result.
Missing information, an unreachable website, or a bounced email never makes a plugin Dead. A closed wordpress.org listing or a vendor's end-of-life notice is shown as a separate fact, with its source. Neither one sets the status.
These words describe the public record of releases. They do not describe the plugin.
──── Coverage ────
Index
A small starter set of verified plugins. We don't crawl the whole wordpress.org directory.
Other plugins
Checked on demand, when someone looks them up.
Release history
Up to the last five years, in detail.
Older last release
Reported with its date, without the history before the window.
Any age
A plugin of any age can be checked. The window limits what we show, not what we check.
Five years is long enough to show a pattern. Release data older than that is often incomplete and hard to verify.
──── What a long gap does not tell you ────
01A product may simply be finished. Some plugins do one small job well and need no changes for years.
02A developer may be ill, or caring for family. A gap in releases says nothing about why it happened.
03Changelogs lag real fixes. A fix can ship quietly, or be written up long after it went out.
04Frequent releases are not proof of good support. A busy changelog and a responsive developer are different things.
──── What this is not ────
Not a review site.
Not a security advisory.
Not a judgment of any developer.