Census › Plugin profiles › WP Ghost
WP Ghost (Hide My WP Ghost) – Security & Firewall
Figures from the Plugin Directory Census · as of 28 Aug 2026
100,000
Active installs, lower bound
Group: 100,000 to 999,999 installs
11
Days since the last release
Group median: 12
4.5
out of 5, from 372 ratings
Group median: 4.7 (10+ ratings)
no threads
Support threads, two months
Group: 68.2%
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What is WP Ghost and who is behind it?
WP Ghost is a WordPress plugin in the “Security” field, made by John Darrel. It has been listed in the directory since 1 Jul 2016, so for 10 years. It is the only plugin by John Darrel with at least 10,000 installs. With 100,000 to 199,999 active installs it belongs to the 100,000 to 999,999 installs group; its last release came 11 days before the reference date, and it is tested up to WordPress 7.1.
This is how the author describes the plugin on wordpress.org:
“Hide My WP Ghost is a WordPress security plugin that hides WP paths and protects your site with Path Security, Firewall, Brute Force Protection, 2FA”
Self-description on wordpress.org, retrieved on 10 Sept 2026
When was WP Ghost last released?
The last release of WP Ghost came 11 days before the reference date; the group median is 12 days.
How many installs does WP Ghost have?
WP Ghost had 100,000 to 199,999 active installs on the reference date. Within its group, 219 plugins had a higher band and 179 plugins the same band.
The API reports installs only as a lower bound with one significant figure: 100,000 means at least 100,000 and at most 199,999.
Which WordPress version is WP Ghost tested with?
No directory notice: tested up to WordPress 7.1, while core stood at 7.1 on the reference date. The notice appears once the field falls below 6.9; that applied to 8.0% of the group.
How does WP Ghost compare with its group?
The group holds 399 listed plugins. 45.4% of them had a more recent last release than WP Ghost; 5.3% had no release for more than 365 days.
| Figure | WP Ghost | Group, 399 plugins |
|---|---|---|
| Days since the last release | 11 | median 12 |
| Rating | 4.5 (372) | median 4.7 (10+ ratings) |
| Support threads marked resolved | not stated | 68.2% |
| Tested up to | 7.1 | 47.6% on 7.1 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 | most often 7.4 (41.6%) |
All values on the reference date
| Slug | hide-my-wp |
|---|---|
| Author | John Darrel |
| Active installs | 100,000 to 199,999 |
| Last release | 11 days before the reference date |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1 · core on the reference date: 7.1 |
| Requires WordPress | 5.8 |
| Requires PHP | 7.4 |
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 from 372 ratings |
| Support threads, two months | none in the window |
| Listed since | 1 Jul 2016 |
| Total downloads | 2,762,698, updates included |
| Tags | brute-force, firewall, hide-my-wp, login, security |
Tags
| Tag | Plugins with 10,000+ installs and this tag | Rank by installs | Median days since release |
|---|---|---|---|
| brute-force | 7 | 2 | 40 |
| firewall | 17 | 7 | 12 |
| hide-my-wp | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| login | 38 | 6 | 71 |
| security | 79 | 20 | 16 |
Rank 1 has the highest installation band among plugins with 10,000+ installs and this tag; equal bands share a rank.
Class of 2016
WP Ghost has been listed since 1 Jul 2016. Of the 200 plugins with 10,000+ installs added in 2016, 87.0% released within the 365 days before the reference date.
Same group, shared tags
Not a recommendation; the same figures for comparison. Alphabetical.
| Plugin | Active installs | Last release | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activity Log | 200,000 to 299,999 | 2 days before the reference date | 4.3 (74) |
| Admin Menu Editor | 300,000 to 399,999 | 9 days before the reference date | 4.6 (312) |
| Advanced Access Manager | 100,000 to 199,999 | 95 days before the reference date | 4.2 (420) |
| Anti-Malware Security and Brute-Force Firewall | 100,000 to 199,999 | 60 days before the reference date | 4.9 (783) |
| BBQ Firewall | 100,000 to 199,999 | 19 days before the reference date | 4.9 (160) |
| CloudSecure WP Security | 100,000 to 199,999 | 1 day before the reference date | 5.0 (2) |
| InfiniteWP Client | 200,000 to 299,999 | 9 days before the reference date | 4.4 (177) |
| Jetpack Protect | 100,000 to 199,999 | 16 days before the reference date | 4.6 (123) |
Do you maintain WP Ghost?
If you maintain WP Ghost, you can link to this profile, for example from your readme or your website. Both snippets show this badge:
HTML
<a href="https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/hide-my-wp/"><img src="https://hafenstudios.com/census/plugins/badge-en.svg" alt="WP Ghost in the Plugin Directory Census 01/2026" width="220" height="40"></a>
Markdown
[](https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/hide-my-wp/)
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A value is wrong? Write to moin@hafenstudios.com; a documented correction leads to a new version.
How to cite
hafenstudios (2026): WP Ghost (Hide My WP Ghost) – Security & Firewall, profile in the Plugin Directory Census 01/2026, reference date 28 Aug 2026. https://hafenstudios.com/en/census/plugins/hide-my-wp/
Source and status
All values come from the full pull of the public wordpress.org API on 28 Aug 2026 (reference time 21:56:30 UTC). The analysis and text on this page are available under CC BY 4.0; the raw values come from the public wordpress.org API and are in the raw data. How the count was made is set out in the method, what the fields do not say under limits. hafenstudios builds WordPress plugins itself, see the conflict of interest. Corrections to moin@hafenstudios.com; a documented correction leads to a new version. From issue 02 this page will also show the change since the previous reference date. Collected and prepared by Horst Wenzel.
Plugin names and trademarks belong to their owners. hafenstudios is not affiliated with the authors named here.
