Article Difficulty Level
Through this plugin, user can able to select the post difficulty level in admin dash board post area for each post.
Consider an alternative
Article Difficulty Level shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 34/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.3 (latest is 7.1)
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Article Difficulty Level stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| article level | >100 |
| difficulty level article | #20 |
| post | >100 |
| rating | >100 |
| rating plugin | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 from 5 reviews
About Article Difficulty Level
From the official readme · v3.1Description
Through this plugin, user can able to select the post difficulty level in admin dash board post area for each post.
- User can select the difficulty level for each post in post area.
- User can able to choose the star size and color to show the difficulty level.
- User can able to choose the where to show the difficulty level, that is either in Home only or Post only or Both.
v 3.1 [12 Nov 2015]
- Added shortcode to use inside the post echo bcShortCodeArticle($post->ID);
- Updated font awesome icons
v 3.0
- Now user can update wide list of icons for their difficulty level from http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/
v 2.2.2 [19-5-2014]
- Updated to 3.9.1 version
v 2.2.1 [24-4-2014]
- Bug fixes – conflict with default H1 tag.
v 2.2 [7-2-2014]
- User can able to disable rating by selecting NA for that post
v 2.1.1
- Updated to 3.8.1
v 2.1
- Added Colorpicker to choose color
v 2.0
- Major bug fixes
- Plugin menu moved to Setting page [As requested by user]
v 1.1.6
- Support 3.7.1
v 1.1.5
- Users can view the Difficulty level in Admin dashboard post list.
v 1.1.4
-
Users can select where to show the difficulty level either in post or home or both.
-
Default message added for the post where rating not selected
v 1.1.3
- Users can select upto 5 different size of stars
v 1.1.2
- Users can change the star color
v 1.1.1
- On save message updated.
v 1.1
-
Now user can select to display the rating in above or below the post
-
User can add custom name for displaying the rating
For more information – http://buffercode.com/article-difficulty-level/
Installation
- Upload the “article-difficulty-level” directory to the plugins directory.
- Go to the plugins setting page and activate “Post Difficulty Level”.
- Go to Settings -> Select Article Difficulty Level and Make the options as you need.
- Then users can see the Post Strenght mode in Posting area. Select the difficulty level of each post based on rating from 1 to 5
- You can add shortcode to use inside the post as your wish => echo bcShortCodeArticle($post->ID);
For more information – Buffercode
Changelog
Added shortcode to use inside the post Updated font awesome icons
3.1
- Added shortcode to use inside the post echo bcShortCodeArticle($post->ID);
- Updated font awesome icons
3.0
- Now user can update wide list of icons for their difficulty level from http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/
2.2.2
- Updated to 3.9.1 version
2.2.1
- Bug fixes – conflict with default H1 tag.
2.2
- User can able to disable rating by selecting NA for that post
2.1.1.1
- Update to 3.8
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
Article Difficulty Level: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 2, 2026
Is Article Difficulty Level free?
Yes. Article Difficulty Level is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Article Difficulty Level safe to use in 2026?
Article Difficulty Level shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 4.8/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 34/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Article Difficulty Level?
Article Difficulty Level is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 4,046 times since it launched in October 2013. It was downloaded 64 times in the last 30 days.
Does Article Difficulty Level work with WordPress 7.1?
Article Difficulty Level is officially tested up to WordPress 4.3.34, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Article Difficulty Level last updated?
The latest version, 3.1, was released on November 12, 2015 (11 years ago).
Who makes Article Difficulty Level?
Article Difficulty Level is developed and maintained by M A Vinoth Kumar.
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