Plugin profile · observed daily since 02 Aug 2026
Blackhole for Bad Bots
Active installs30,000+ rounded
Current authorJeff Starr
Owner changesNone while we have been watching
Last release3 months ago 21 Aug 2026
Support2 / 3 resolved, last 2 months
Releases on record44
Rating4.7 /5 · 148
Added to directory18 Feb 2016
Requires WP4.7
Requires PHP5.6.20
Version lag0 up to date
Tested up toWP 7.1.4 up to date
PluginsPedia 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 Jeff Starr 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| specialk | 42 | 08 Mar 2017 | 21 Apr 2026 |
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.
Widely adopted: 30,000+ active installs. Among the more broadly installed plugins in the directory.
159 downloads a day over the last 7 days, falling 21% against the 7 days before. Downloads are counted exactly and without a ceiling, so they show movement the rounded install figure cannot.
11 Sep 2026peak 471/day31 Oct 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 | 18 Oct | 19 Oct | 20 Oct | 21 Oct | 22 Oct | 23 Oct | 24 Oct | 25 Oct | 26 Oct | 27 Oct | 28 Oct | 29 Oct | 30 Oct | 31 Oct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downloads that day | — | 101 | 220 | 190 | 208 | 289 | 285 | 152 | 161 | 136 | 233 | 114 | 167 | 148 |
| Support threads | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Threads resolved | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Unchanged throughout: ratings total (148) · active installs (30,000+) · version (3.8.4)
91 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 directory10 years ago 18 Feb 2016
Requires WP4.7
Requires PHP5.6.20
Version lagcurrent
Is anyone still maintaining this?
- Last released 21 Aug 2026, 79 days ago.
- Declares compatibility with WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- 2 of 3 support threads answered in the last two months.
- The same account maintains 29 other plugins, 2 of which were updated in the last 90 days. the account is active.
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.
- 21 Aug 20263 months agoVersion 3.8.4 released
- 09 Aug 20263 months agoVersion 3.8.3 released
- 02 Aug 20263 months agoFirst observed by PluginsPediaDaily 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.
- 21 Apr 20267 months agoVersion 3.8.2 released
- 20 Mar 20268 months agoVersion 3.8.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 06 Feb 20269 months agoVersion 3.8 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 20 Nov 202512 months agoVersion 3.7.5 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 25 Mar 202519 months agoVersion 3.7.4 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 02 Nov 20242 years agoVersion 3.7.3 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 19 Oct 20242 years agoVersion 3.7.2 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 29 Jun 20242 years agoVersion 3.7.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 07 Mar 20242.5 years agoVersion 3.7 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 27 Oct 20233 years agoVersion 3.6.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 21 Jul 20233 years agoVersion 3.6 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 25 Apr 20233.5 years agoVersion 3.5 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 11 Mar 20233.5 years agoVersion 3.4.1 releasedfrom the release logCommitted by specialk.
- 08 Mar 20179.5 years ago29 earlier releasesfrom the release logBetween 08 Mar 2017 and 07 Mar 2023. Listed individually in the public release log rather than here.
- 18 Feb 201610 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 Jeff Starr for all 91 days we have observed it.
- It was last released 3 months ago (21 Aug 2026).
- Its author declares it tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, which is current.
- WordPress.org reports 30,000+ active installs.
- It carries 148 ratings, averaging 4.7 out of 5.
- 2 of 3 support threads in the last two months are marked resolved.
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 Blackhole for Bad Bots: a person reads every submission, and corrections get a reply within 5 business days.