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The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget icon
Slowing down Tested up to 6.8.11 #1 in content sharing

The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget

Unlock the potential of your content with Headlines Plus, the ultimate free plugin designed to help WordPress publishers grow their audience. With tools for syndication, content sharing, and performance optimization…

Active installs10+10+ tier
Downloads · 30d85▲ +77.1% vs prev. 30d
Rating—0 reviews
Health score32/100At risk
All-time downloads1KSince Feb 2025
Support resolved—No recent threads
RequiresWP 6.0.2PHP 7.0+
Downloads · 7d12▼ -42.9% week over week
Our verdict

Consider an alternative

The Publisher Desk shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.

  • Small user base (10+ active installs)
  • Very few reviews so far
  • No update in over a year
  • Only tested up to WordPress 6.8 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

Daily downloads

369Jul 10Aug 23Oct 7
Yesterday2
Daily average (1y)2
Peak day14May 15, 2026
Last 12 months638

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where The Publisher Desk stands today

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100
KeywordPositionCompeting pluginsCategory
content sharing >100 2,690 Best content sharing plugins →
content syndication #31 104 Best content syndication plugins →
traffic sharing >100 461 Best traffic sharing plugins →
wordpress widget >100 10,000 Best wordpress widget plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

  • 1.0100.0%

About The Publisher Desk

From the official readme · v1.0.8

Description

Unlock the potential of your content with Headlines Plus, the ultimate free plugin designed to help WordPress publishers grow their audience. With tools for syndication, content sharing, and performance optimization, Headlines Plus connects you to a network of quality publishers to boost your reach and engagement—at no cost.

Why Choose Headlines Plus?

  • Free Traffic Sharing: Gain access to a trusted network of publishers to exchange traffic and grow your audience organically.
  • Effortless Syndication: Share and receive content seamlessly, driving quality traffic to your site.
  • Flexible Integration: Use customizable widgets, shortcodes, or SDK snippets to display syndicated content anywhere on your site.
  • Lazy Load for Performance: Reduce initial page load time with lazy-loaded widgets that fetch content dynamically when visible.
  • Simple and Intuitive: Designed specifically for WordPress, the plugin is easy to install, configure, and use.

Headlines Plus is your solution to building meaningful traffic without compromising on quality.

Join the growing community of publishers and start sharing for free with Headlines Plus today!

External Services

This plugin connects to various external services to provide its functionality. Below is an outline of the services used, the data collected, and their purpose:

  1. Publisher Details Submission:

    • Service: https://www.publisherdesk.com/wp-json/headlines-plus/v1/*
    • Purpose: Collects publisher details during initial plugin setup to improve service quality and track publisher activity.
    • Data Collected: Name, email, domain, and feed URL (provided during setup).
    • Storage: This data is securely stored in the WordPress database and shared with our API for service enhancement.
    • Privacy: All data is handled in compliance with applicable privacy standards.
  2. Content Recommendations with PubExchange:

    • Service: https://module.pubexchange.com/json/*
    • Purpose: Enhances content recommendations using AI-powered analysis of reader behavior to deliver personalized story recommendations.
    • Data Collected: Articles being read (via feed data and plugin settings) and metadata.
    • Privacy Policy: PubExchange API
  3. Feed URL Integration:

    • Service: https://rss.app/feeds/_uGSbjZRP8ggLzOLF.xml
    • Purpose: Fetches data during the approval process to create a grid of posts.
    • Data Collected: None (the feed URL provides publicly available content).
  4. Headlines Plus SDK Integration:

    • Service: https://sdk.headlinesplus.com/headlines-plus-sdk.min.js
    • Purpose: Collects data from SDK widget attributes to pass to Dappier’s API and retrieve relevant content recommendations.
    • Data Collected: Metadata and configuration parameters from the SDK.
    • Privacy: Data is sent securely to the API.

Terms of Use and Privacy Policies:
– Publisher Desk API: Privacy Policy
– PubExchange API: Privacy Policy

All external integrations are designed to enhance functionality and user experience. Data transmission is conducted securely and in accordance with privacy regulations. Users are encouraged to review the terms and privacy policies of these services.

How the Widget Works

The Headlines Plus Widget dynamically displays a grid or list of articles by fetching curated content from an external API at api.dappier.com. Depending on the publisher’s settings, the widget pulls content from:
– Your website’s feed URL upon aproval (submitted during form setup),
– Curated articles sourced via the Headlines Plus publisher network.

Usage

Widgets:

  • Go to Appearance > Widgets.
  • Add the “Headlines Plus Widget” to your sidebar or footer area.
  • Configure options like headline, lazy loading, and display style.

Shortcodes:

  • Add the following shortcode to any post or page:
    [headlines_plus_shortcode lazy_load=”true” view_style=”grid” query=”your-query”]
  • Parameters:
  • similarity_top_k: Number of total articles to display.
  • lazy_load: Enable lazy loading (true or false).
  • view_style: Display content in grid or list format.
  • query: Custom search query to fetch specific content. Normally defaults to the post slug.
  • logo_style: full-size-logo, short-logo
  • internal_articles: Number of internal articles to include in the recommendations.

Installation

  1. Upload the plugin folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory, or install the plugin via the WordPress plugins screen directly.
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ screen in WordPress.
  3. Configure your widget or shortcode settings in the WordPress dashboard.
  4. Add the widget to your sidebar or use the [headlines_plus_shortcode] in any post or page.

Frequently asked questions

Does this plugin work with any theme?

Yes, the Headlines Plus Widget is compatible with all WordPress themes that support widgets and shortcodes.

What is lazy loading, and how does it benefit my site?

Lazy loading defers the loading of widget or shortcode content until it becomes visible in the viewport, improving page load time and performance.

Is the plugin free to use?

Yes, the Headlines Plus Widget is completely free to use.

Does it work with Gutenberg blocks?

Yes, you can use the shortcode inside a Gutenberg block to display the widget content.

Changelog

This is the first stable release of the plugin. Install to enhance your site's traffic sharing capabilities!

1.0.0

  • Initial release.
  • Features lazy-loading widgets and shortcodes.
  • Integration with external API for content syndication.
  • Supports dynamic content display with various configurations.

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget screenshot
The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget screenshot
The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget screenshot
The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget screenshot
The Publisher Desk – Headlines Plus Widget screenshot

For developers

Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.

Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.

Active installs badge Rating badge Health score badge

Best The Publisher Desk alternatives

All content sharing plugins →

FAQ

The Publisher Desk: quick answers

Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 8, 2026

Is The Publisher Desk free?

Yes. The Publisher Desk is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Is The Publisher Desk safe to use in 2026?

The Publisher Desk shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 1 year ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.

How many websites use The Publisher Desk?

The Publisher Desk is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 1,027 times since it launched in February 2025. It was downloaded 85 times in the last 30 days.

Does The Publisher Desk work with WordPress 7.1?

The Publisher Desk is officially tested up to WordPress 6.8.11, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

What PHP version does The Publisher Desk need?

The Publisher Desk requires PHP 7.0 or higher. Most hosts run PHP 8.x today, so it works on any modern WordPress hosting.

When was The Publisher Desk last updated?

The latest version, 1.0.8, was released on September 17, 2025 (1 year ago).

Who makes The Publisher Desk?

The Publisher Desk is developed and maintained by PublisherDesk.

What are the best alternatives to The Publisher Desk?

The most popular alternatives to The Publisher Desk are Revive To Sky (10+ installs), Unifeed (<10 installs) and Legitimate Post Submitter (<10 installs).

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