Best old school plugins for WordPress
The most popular old school plugins for WordPress in November 2026, in WordPress.org’s own popular order, which follows active installs. Old Style Admin UI leads with 100+ active installs, ahead of Life Meter Widget (10+). All 2 plugins tagged “old school” are below, with figures from WordPress.org that update every day.
Installs aren’t everything: a recent release, a “Tested up to” that matches the current WordPress, and support threads that get resolved show a plugin is looked after. Open any plugin for its downloads, rank history and alternatives.
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Top 2 old school plugins
- 1.
Old Style Admin UIThe most installed old school plugin, with 100+ active installs. Rated 5.0 from 9 reviews, last updated 6 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 5.3.27.
- 2.
Life Meter Widget10+ active installs. No reviews yet, last updated 14 years ago. Tested only up to WordPress 3.4.2.
All 2 plugins tagged “old school”
Old Style Admin UI
Up in the last 7 days:6#15,903by Darken-x6 years ago
If you didn't like the new Wordpress 5.3 accessibility blue style for the buttons and other parts of the admin UI, this plugin is for you.
- Installs
- 100+
- Rating
- 5.0(9)
- Downloads
- 0/day
Life Meter Widget
Up in the last 7 days:6,722#41,094by bythegram14 years ago
Display how you're feeling today via a Retro Video Game Life Meter. Just input how much you want it filled and write a caption to say why.
- Installs
- 10+
- Rating
- –
- Downloads
- 0/day