WP Spry Menu
Create Spry Drop Down Menu for WordPress category.
Consider an alternative
WP Spry Menu shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 12 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (50+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 12 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 3.6 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where WP Spry Menu stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| category exclude | >100 |
| category menu | >100 |
| css menu | >100 |
| dropdown menu | >100 |
| menu | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews
About WP Spry Menu
From the official readme · v1.5.2Description
#
WARNING: This plugin is no longer developed and maintained.
The existence of WP Spry Menu is that one day, WordPress doesn’t have option to create menu, so I created this plugin.
But now, WordPress already has powerful menu manager and can be easily integrated with theme or CSS (Bootstrap etc).
You can still use this plugin but no warranty of usability and no support.
Thanks for everyone. This is my first plugin ever and I should proud of it 🙂
#
WP Spry Menu is plugin that automatically creating Spry Drop Down Menu for WordPress category. What is Spry? Spry is JavaScript dropdown menu library from www.adobe.com. The Spry library is FREE and redistributable.
Feature:
- For new feature, see ‘Changelog’.
- No template arguments are needed to configure menu behavior, all settings are place on the Admin.
- Live preview as soon as you change the settings. No need to refresh your homepage to see changes.
- Configurable direction, your menu should appears horizontal, vertical drop left, or vertical drop right.
- Changeable Home text link, you can leave it blank for no home link.
- Depth setting, how many child you want to display.
- Exclue setting, you can select which category should not appears on the menu.
- Order setting, order by name or ID.
- Hide/Hide emtpy category. By default WordPress won’t display an empty category, now you can configure.
- Child of setting, only display menu from selected parent category.
Installation
The installation is very easy.
- Upload
wp-spry-menufolder to the/wp-content/plugins/directory. Make sure wp-spry-menu contains all included files. - Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
- Place
<?php if ( function_exists('wp_spry_menu') ) wp_spry_menu();?>in your templates or use shortcode[wp_spry_menu /]in your post/page or Text Widget. - Cofigure from WP Spry Menu options in your WordPress Admin.
Changelog
1.5.2
- Fixed bug, admin CSS loaded on front page.
- Fixed typo in readme.txt
1.5.1
- Fix function error on PHP < 5.3.0
1.5
- Code rewritten, because I know the old code is very funny. 😀
- Now use single option, wp_spry_menu_settings ( don’t worry, old setting will be imported when you upgrade to this version).
- Add shortcode [wp_spry_menu] for easy installation in post/page or Text Widget
- Removed support for IE browser.
- Removed Style Editor.
- Plugin Settings now moved under Appearance on the WordPress dashboard.
1.0.3
- Add Theme chooser, while Style Editor can be enable/disable.
- Add Order By options: count, slug, term_group
- Add Category Title.
- Fixed bug, white border in IE.
1.0.2
- Fixed bug, wrong path.
- Only add_filter admin_head if you are in option page.
- Add Simple Style Editor with Color Picker.
1.0.1
- Add Child of as dropdown select.
- Live preview from plugin setting page.
- Code improvement
Screenshots
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.
Best WP Spry Menu alternatives
All category exclude plugins →| Rank | Plugin | Active installs |
|---|---|---|
| 2 |
Category Excluder from Theme Customizer
Administrator can easily exclude the posts from specific category/categories via WordPress…
|
50+ |
FAQ
WP Spry Menu: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Sep 29, 2026
Is WP Spry Menu free?
Yes. WP Spry Menu is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is WP Spry Menu safe to use in 2026?
WP Spry Menu shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 50+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 12 years ago, and scores 32/100 on our health check.
How many websites use WP Spry Menu?
WP Spry Menu is active on 50+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 32,094 times since it launched in June 2009. It was downloaded 53 times in the last 30 days.
Does WP Spry Menu work with WordPress 7.1?
WP Spry Menu is officially tested up to WordPress 3.6.1, while the latest release is 7.1.2. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was WP Spry Menu last updated?
The latest version, 1.5.2, was released on August 10, 2014 (12 years ago).
Who makes WP Spry Menu?
WP Spry Menu is developed and maintained by takien.
What are the best alternatives to WP Spry Menu?
The most popular alternatives to WP Spry Menu are Category Excluder from Them… (50+ installs).
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