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PluginCanary

Hello Dolly

by Matt Mullenweg · 500,000+ active installs · Checked 3 Nov 2026
Watch2 Warnings

Watch: tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, 2 major versions behind 7.1.4.

71/ 100 Canary Score
Sub-scores for Hello Dolly
Ownership100
Maintenance20
Security100
Support70
Reputation70

How the score works

Active signals

Facts we detected, with links to the source.

  • WarningMNT-2Tested up to WordPress 6.9.11, 2 major versions behind 7.1.4. Plan a replacement if the plugin is important to your site.3 Nov 2026Evidence
  • WarningMNT-1No release in 12 months (last release 24 Oct 2025). Plan a replacement if the plugin is important to your site.24 Oct 2026Evidence

Ownership timeline

Who commits to the plugin's code on wordpress.org, over time.

Committers and their active periods
Otto4210 Sep 2014 to 7 May 2025, 6 commits
tellyworth16 Sep 2021 to 16 Sep 2021, 2 commits
dd3217 Dec 2021 to 24 Oct 2025, 3 commits
priethor13 Nov 2023 to 13 Nov 2023, 1 commits

4 committers recorded. No ownership changes recorded since 3 Nov 2026.

Maintenance

Last release
13 months ago
Releases, 24 months
1
Tested up to
6.9 vs 7.1
Requires PHP
not stated supported 8.2+
Releases per quarter for Hello Dolly
Q1 20240
Q2 20240
Q3 20240
Q4 20240
Q1 20250
Q2 20250
Q3 20250
Q4 20251
Q1 20260
Q2 20260
Q3 20260
Q4 20260

Last release 24 Oct 2025. Tested up to 6.9, 2 major versions behind WordPress 7.1.

Support

Support history appears after our first snapshots of the forum counts.

Security record

No published vulnerabilities on record for this plugin.

Source: Wordfence Intelligence.

Reputation

Average rating per quarter for Hello Dolly
Q4 20235.0
Q1 20241.0
Q2 20245.0
Q3 20243.0
Q2 20255.0
Q3 20255.0
Q4 20255.0
Q1 20265.0
Q3 20261.0

Average rating fell from 5.0 to 1.0 between Q4 2023 and Q3 2026.

Rating distribution
5 star136
4 star13
3 star5
2 star8
1 star15
Latest low reviews

Momentum

500,000+ active installs. History builds with each weekly snapshot.

Weekly downloads, last 27 weeks
Weekly downloads for Hello Dolly
4 May 20267,326
11 May 202615,682
18 May 202616,680
25 May 202615,032
1 Jun 202615,949
8 Jun 202617,327
15 Jun 202615,857
22 Jun 202615,883
29 Jun 202617,396
6 Jul 202617,073
13 Jul 202614,874
20 Jul 202616,254
27 Jul 202614,551
3 Aug 202615,240
10 Aug 202613,715
17 Aug 202616,233
24 Aug 202615,507
31 Aug 202614,785
7 Sep 202613,553
14 Sep 202615,043
21 Sep 202615,332
28 Sep 202615,915
5 Oct 202616,411
12 Oct 202616,399
19 Oct 202622,311
26 Oct 202622,244
2 Nov 20263,772

Weekly downloads over the last 4 weeks are 5% above the 27-week average.

Healthier alternatives

Same category, higher Canary Score. Never sponsored.

No healthier plugin in the same category yet.

Facts

Version1.7.2
AuthorMatt Mullenweg
Added6 Jul 2008
Last updated24 Oct 2025
Active installs500,000+
Requires WordPress4.6
Tested up to6.9.11
Requires PHPnot stated
CategoryCommunication & Messaging > Notification Management
Tagsnot stated

Other plugins by this author: Cache Images, No WWW, Random Redirect, WYSIWYG Editing, Admin IP Watcher, Google Adsense for Feeds, Notifly, Blogtimes, Matt’s Community Tags, Advanced Caching, Protect old posts, Firefox Counter

Questions

Is Hello Dolly still maintained?

Hello Dolly was last updated on 24 Oct 2025. Its Canary status is Watch.

Is Hello Dolly safe?

Hello Dolly has no open unpatched vulnerabilities on record. 0 vulnerabilities were published in the last 24 months. Its Canary status is Watch.

Who owns Hello Dolly?

The wordpress.org author is Matt Mullenweg. Recent committers: dd32, Otto42, priethor, tellyworth, yoavf. We have recorded no ownership change.

What can I use instead of Hello Dolly?

We have no healthier plugin in the same category on record yet.

Data: wordpress.org Plugins API, plugins SVN and Trac, wordpress.org reviews, Wordfence Intelligence.Plugin data refreshed 3 Nov 2026.Report a data issue