Primary Categories
v1.0.0by Jacob McKinney · updated 8 years ago
WordPress plugin for setting and displaying primary categories for posts and custom post types.
- Rank
- #26,368
- No change yet
- Active installs (est.)
- ≈ 25
- 20+ reported · High
- Total downloads
- 5.9K
- 5,943 all-time
- Rating
- 4.5/5
- 2 reviews
- Support resolved
- –
- 0 of 0 threads, last 2 months
Primary Categories at a glance
Primary Categories is a WordPress plugin by Jacob McKinney with 20+ active installs, the #26,368 most popular plugin on WordPress.org. It’s rated 4.5 out of 5 from 2 reviews. Version 1.0.0 came out on Aug 5, 2018, more than 8 years ago. It is tested up to WordPress 4.9.35. Among the 231 plugins tagged “shortcodes”, it ranks #106. It was first released in 2016.
Chart time range
Applies to every chart below. History from Oct 27, 2026, 13 days.
Downloads over time
Download stats55 downloads · the last 30 days
View as table
| Date | Primary Categories |
|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | 0 |
| Nov 8, 2026 | 0 |
| Nov 7, 2026 | 0 |
| Nov 6, 2026 | 11 |
| Nov 5, 2026 | 0 |
| Nov 4, 2026 | 11 |
| Nov 3, 2026 | 11 |
| Nov 2, 2026 | 0 |
| Nov 1, 2026 | 0 |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 11 |
| Oct 30, 2026 | 0 |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 0 |
| Oct 28, 2026 | 11 |
Unusual spikes are usually updates, not new installs.
Estimated installs
≈ 25 · 0.0% in the last 30 days
View as table
| Date | Estimated installs |
|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 8, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 7, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 5, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 4, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 3, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 2, 2026 | 25 |
| Nov 1, 2026 | 25 |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 26 |
| Oct 30, 2026 | 25 |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 25 |
| Oct 28, 2026 | 25 |
Rank over time
#26,368 · down 312 in the last 30 days
View as table
| Date | Daily snapshot |
|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | #26,368 |
| Nov 7, 2026 | #26,326 |
| Nov 6, 2026 | #26,394 |
| Nov 4, 2026 | #26,151 |
| Nov 3, 2026 | #26,226 |
| Nov 2, 2026 | #26,312 |
| Oct 31, 2026 | #26,111 |
| Oct 30, 2026 | #26,083 |
| Oct 29, 2026 | #26,101 |
| Oct 28, 2026 | #26,056 |
Growth %
Average 0.00% a day in the last 30 days
View as table
| Date | Growth |
|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 8, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 7, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 5, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 4, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 3, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 2, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Nov 1, 2026 | -3.85% |
| Oct 31, 2026 | +4.00% |
| Oct 30, 2026 | 0.00% |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 0.00% |
Active installs band
20+ on WordPress.org
View as table
| Date | Daily snapshot |
|---|---|
| Nov 9, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 8, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 7, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 6, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 5, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 4, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 3, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 2, 2026 | 20+ |
| Nov 1, 2026 | 20+ |
| Oct 31, 2026 | 20+ |
| Oct 30, 2026 | 20+ |
| Oct 29, 2026 | 20+ |
| Oct 28, 2026 | 20+ |
| Oct 27, 2026 | 20+ |
Search rankings
Where it appears in WordPress.org search for the searches you track, checked every day.
See where Primary Categories ranks in search
Track this plugin to check its position for the searches you choose, daily, with an alert when it moves.
Change log
From our daily snapshot of WordPress.org- Tested up to 4.9.34 → 4.9.35
Versions in use
Share of active installs on each published version, from WordPress.org.
- v1.0100%
Rating trend
4.5★★★★★2 reviews · steady in the last 30 days
Requirements & info
Version history- Version
- 1.0.0
- Requires WordPress
- 3.4
- Tested up to
- 4.9.35
- Requires PHP
- –
- First released
- May 17, 2016
- Last updated
- Aug 5, 2018
- Releases, last 12 months
- …
Questions about Primary Categories
How many websites use Primary Categories?
Primary Categories is active on 20+ WordPress sites, as WordPress.org reports it. WordPress.org rounds the number down, so the real count is somewhat higher. That makes it the #26,368 most popular plugin on WordPress.org.
How many times has Primary Categories been downloaded?
5,943 times in total since 2016.
When was Primary Categories last updated?
Version 1.0.0 came out on Aug 5, 2018 (8 years ago).
Is Primary Categories compatible with the latest WordPress?
Primary Categories’s readme says it’s tested up to WordPress 4.9.35, while the current version is 7.1. That doesn’t mean it breaks, but its author hasn’t confirmed it works with the latest releases.
Is Primary Categories still maintained?
Its last release was 8 years ago, so it may no longer be actively maintained. No support threads were opened in the last two months.
What rating does Primary Categories have?
4.5 out of 5 from 2 reviews on WordPress.org.
What are the best alternatives to Primary Categories?
The plugins most like Primary Categories, by the tags they share, are Post Tags and Categories for Pages (20K+), FV Top Level Categories (20K+) and Media Library Categories (20K+). Compare all alternatives
Latest reviews
Analyze reviewsReview stats
4.5
★★★★★
2 reviews
- 5 stars: 1 reviews, 50%
- 4 stars: 1 reviews, 50%
- 3 stars: 0 reviews, 0%
- 2 stars: 0 reviews, 0%
- 1 stars: 0 reviews, 0%
- Positive
- 100%4–5★
- Mixed
- 0%3★
- Critical
- 0%1–2★
- About 1 more 5★ reviews would lift it to 4.6.
- Each new 1★ review takes 7 five-star reviews to balance out.
Compare with competitors
Add up to 1 competitor. No account needed.
| Metric | |
|---|---|
| Estimated installs | ≈ 25 |
| Reported installs | 20+ |
| Rating | 4.5 |
| Reviews | 2 |
| Total downloads | 5.9K |
| Author | Jacob McKinney |
| First released | May 17, 2016 |
| Version | 1.0.0 |
| Requires WP | 3.4 |
| Requires PHP | – |
| Last updated | Aug 5, 2018 |
Alternatives to Primary Categories
Compare all alternativesPopular plugins with the same tags, the most in common first.
Post Tags and Categories for Pages
by curtismchale
Adds the built in WordPress categories and tags to your pages.
- Rank
- #1,358
- Installs
- 20K+
- 4.8
FV Top Level Categories
by FolioVision
This is a fix of Top Level Categories plugin for Wordpress 3.1. and above.
- Rank
- #1,305
- Installs
- 20K+
- 4.4
Media Library Categories
by jeffrey-wp
Adds the ability to use categories in the media library.
- Rank
- #1,247
- Installs
- 20K+
- 4.2
Hide Categories and Products for Woocommerce
by NOUS Open Usefull & Simple
Hide Categories and Products for Woocommerce. This plugins requires WooCommerce to be installed and activated
- Rank
- #1,864
- Installs
- 10K+
- 4.1
List categories
by Fernando Briano
Simple plugin to display categories in any post or page with a shortcode.
- Rank
- #3,104
- Installs
- 5K+
- 4.5
Collapsing Categories
by robfelty
Adds a widget which uses Javascript to dynamically expand or collapse the set of posts for each category.
- Rank
- #3,393
- Installs
- 4K+
- 4.1
Side by side:Primary Categories vs Post Tags and Categories for PagesPrimary Categories vs FV Top Level CategoriesPrimary Categories vs Media Library Categories