Author Wordcount
Allows authors to show word counts for works in progress.
Consider an alternative
Author Wordcount shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (20+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.5 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Author Wordcount stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| author | >100 |
| wordcount | #17 |
| writing | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Author Wordcount
From the official readme · v1.0Description
Author Wordcount is a simple tool that allows you to enter the title of
a work-in-progress (I’m looking at you, NaNoWriMo draft), a current word
count, and a goal word count. These counters can be updated when you have
new words available, and can be deleted when you’re finished. You can have
any number of works in progress at a time, since if you’re like me, you’ve
probably got a huge collection of drafts just waiting to be finished.
The style is based on an old component that used to sit on the sidebar of
Hugh Howey’s website. Thanks, Hugh!
Installation
Place all the files in a directory inside of wp-content/plugins (for example,
author-wordcount). Activate the plugin, and make sure that you add the
widget to a sidebar.
You can find the admin page under Settings, titled Author Wordcount.
Screenshots
For developers
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Best Author Wordcount alternatives
All author plugins →
FAQ
Author Wordcount: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 6, 2026
Is Author Wordcount free?
Yes. Author Wordcount is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Author Wordcount safe to use in 2026?
Author Wordcount shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 20+ sites and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Author Wordcount?
Author Wordcount is active on 20+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 3,635 times since it launched in January 2015. It was downloaded 163 times in the last 30 days.
Does Author Wordcount work with WordPress 7.1?
Author Wordcount is officially tested up to WordPress 4.5.33, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Author Wordcount last updated?
The latest version, 1.0, was released on May 26, 2016 (10 years ago).
Who makes Author Wordcount?
Author Wordcount is developed and maintained by Scott Grant.
What are the best alternatives to Author Wordcount?
The most popular alternatives to Author Wordcount are Edit Author Slug (100K+ installs), WP Meta and Date Remover (90K+ installs) and Hide/Remove Metadata (20K+ installs).
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