I wanted an easier way to recommend plugins in the WordPress dashboard.

Yeah, me too. Except I’ve been thinking about it for years.

The 60,000 Plugin Problem

The directory has over 60,000 plugins. Finding the right one feels like searching for a needle in a haystack while someone keeps adding more hay.

There is a Featured tab, but

It’s rarely updated. The same plugins have stayed featured for years.

It features plugins that don’t need featuring. When you have 5+ million active installs, you don’t need help with discovery. You’ve already won. Meanwhile, brilliant plugins with 100 installs that could change someone’s workflow? Invisible.

And those featured plugins are the same for everyone:

  • Whether you’re building an e-commerce site or a simple blog
  • Whether you’re a solo developer or managing an enterprise multisite network
  • Whether you run a hosting company or a design agency
  • Whether you’re in Texas or Tokyo

One size fits all. Except it doesn’t.

My Quest for Hidden Gems

I’ve always believed the best plugins aren’t always the most popular ones. Some of the most useful, well-crafted plugins have just a few thousand active installs because they solve specific problems beautifully rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

So I built Hidden Gems: a tool to actually find these overlooked plugins. It uses the WordPress.org API, analyzes quality signals, and surfaces plugins that deserve more attention.

Finding them was step one.

But then what? I’d discover these amazing plugins, and… they’d just sit in a list somewhere. My clients would still see the same generic “Featured” plugins tab. The hidden gems stayed hidden.

I needed a way to actually show people these plugins.

Enter Plugin Curator

That’s why I built Plugin Curator.

It lets you replace WordPress.org’s Featured list with your own curated list and use current information from WordPress.org.

Here’s how to set it up.

How It Works

  1. You create a JSON file with plugin slugs you want to feature
  2. Host it anywhere (your server, GitHub, wherever)
  3. Point Plugin Curator to that URL
  4. Done.

That’s it. Your Featured tab now shows your plugins, but with all the WordPress.org goodness:

  • ✅ Real-time ratings and reviews
  • ✅ Current download counts
  • ✅ Version and compatibility info
  • ✅ Plugin icons and banners
  • ✅ One-click installation

You focus on curation. WordPress.org handles information.

What I’d like to see

There’s another part to this: I’m going to work with WordPress.org to curate the featured tab for everyone someday.

The default featured plugins list that every WordPress site sees. Curated, maintained, and updated to actually surface quality plugins that deserve attention.

That’s what I want to work toward.

Hidden Gems proves that amazing, underappreciated plugins exist. Plugin Curator provides the infrastructure to surface them. Now I need to work with the WordPress.org team to make it universal, to change the default featured tab that all 40+ million WordPress sites see.

But we don’t have to wait for “someday” to make this useful.

Start Today: Let Me Curate For You

While I work toward that bigger vision, I’m creating curated plugin lists right now. And I want to help you get started.

Try My Featured List

I maintain a curated list of hidden gems and trusted plugins at:
https://regionallyfamous.com/featured.json

Use it as-is, or use it as inspiration for your own list.

Try making a list

Have you found any hidden gems in the WordPress plugin repo? Need help creating a curated list? Want to contribute to the bigger vision?

I want to hear about it. Drop a comment, open a GitHub issue, or reach out directly.

I want people to have useful lists to choose from when they’re setting up a site.

Try Plugin Curator with your own list.