Censortive
Censortive uses text-to-image technology to convert user-defined ‘sensitive’ words into an image file that blends right into the flow of text. By changing the text into an image file, you effectively negate the…
Consider an alternative
Censortive shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 19 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 18 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 2.3 (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 Censortive stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| censorship | #38 |
| text to image | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About Censortive
From the official readme · v1.0Description
Censortive uses text-to-image technology to convert user-defined ‘sensitive’ words into an image file that blends right into the flow of text. By changing the text into an image file, you effectively negate the censorship robots from being able to ‘see’ the offending words. Your readers, however, will be able to follow what you’re saying without a hitch.
In some countries Internet censorship is at an unjustified level, with a host of Big Brother technologies working to block one of our basic human rights: freedom of speech. The most common way for them to do this is by using bots to scan the text from a site attempting to be viewed. If words deemed inappropriate are found, the viewer is left with an error screen.
However, by converting the words into small, near-identical to the original text, graphic files, the robots have no idea what is being said and happily let it all pass through.
To further increase security, rather than have the sensitive words saved in the post (increasing the chances for a block), users simply use a codeword, which when scanned by the plugin, is replaced by the text2graphic image of the intended word.
Support
Please visit the Censortive page and leave questions in the comments, or e-mail us at the contact address on the site. This plugin is in ‘beta’ testing, so we do appreciate any feedback or comments you may have.
Terms & Disclaimer
This plugin is released under the GNU GPL and is 100% free. However, you are welcome to show your appreciation for the work we’ve put into this plugin by donating a couple bucks.
Censortive is only a tool for the furtherance of free speech, and it is not foolproof. We cannot be held liable if something you say with the use of this plugin gets you in trouble with “Big Brother”. Please use it at your own risk.
Additionally, though we can not begin to imagine how, if the plugin pooches your server/blog/computer/toilet, we’re not going to take responsibility for that either.
Thanks
Thanks is owed to Stewart Ulm, of Moderate Design, for creating the original text2image script used in this plugin.
Installation
- Unzip this compressed file to a temporary directory.
- Edit ‘/censortive/codewords.dat’ in a plain text editor (not Word). Look at the example words on how to add your own. Be sure to maintain the same format (codeword=realword,). Note the comma at the end of each line, including the last line. Save the file.
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- Navigate to your WordPress Options menu and select the new ‘Censortive’ option. Adjust the settings to suit your blog’s style.
For developers
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Best Censortive alternatives
All censorship plugins →
FAQ
Censortive: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 8, 2026
Is Censortive free?
Yes. Censortive is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Censortive safe to use in 2026?
Censortive shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 19 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Censortive?
Censortive is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 6,208 times since it launched in November 2007. It was downloaded 173 times in the last 30 days.
Does Censortive work with WordPress 7.1?
Censortive is officially tested up to WordPress 2.3, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Censortive last updated?
The latest version, 1.0, was released on November 4, 2007 (19 years ago).
Who makes Censortive?
Censortive is developed and maintained by Ryan.
What are the best alternatives to Censortive?
The most popular alternatives to Censortive are SOPA Blackout Plugin (20+ installs), SOPA Blackout for WordPress (10+ installs) and Censorship Plugin (10+ installs).
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