Title: Stalemender – Content Audit, Stale Post Finder & Content Decay Report
Author: Emtiaz Zahid
Published: September 23, 2026
Last modified: September 23, 2026
---
Search plugins
# Stalemender – Content Audit, Stale Post Finder & Content Decay Report
By [Emtiaz Zahid](https://profiles.wordpress.org/emtiazzahid/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/stalemender.1.0.0.zip)
* [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stalemender/#description)
* [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stalemender/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stalemender/#installation)
* [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stalemender/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stalemender/)
## Description
Old posts quietly lose rankings. Stalemender audits everything you have published,
gives each post a **Freshness Score (0–100)** and tells you _why_ it scored that
way, so refreshing content becomes a weekly habit instead of a yearly panic.
#### What it looks at
* **Age** since the last update (or last editorial review)
* **Search traffic trend** from Google Search Console: clicks in the last 28 days
vs the 28 before
* **Outdated mentions**: old years, “this year”, “recently”, prices in headings–
each one quoted in context, with a per-post ignore list
* **Length** compared with the typical post of the same type
* **Internal links pointing in** (orphan detection via a full link index)
* **Structure**: H2 headings, images, featured image
* **Meta description** (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, SEOPress, or the excerpt)
* **Broken outbound links** (light HEAD checks, cached, throttled per host)
* **Duplicate titles, H1s and near-duplicate slugs**
Weights are yours to change. Signals without data (no Search Console, outbound blocked)
are skipped and their weight redistributed, so a score is never punished for a missing
integration.
#### Then it helps you act
* **Audit table**: server-side pagination, sort and filter by type, category, author,
band, status, assignee, traffic trend or modified date; save views per user;
export the current view as CSV
* **Post drawer**: full score breakdown, outdated phrases in context, who links
here, notes, status (needs update, in progress, reviewed, merge, delete), assignee,“
mark reviewed” which resets the age clock
* **Refresh next**: a top-N list of non-fresh posts ranked by staleness × lost
clicks (or × inbound links when Search Console is not connected), on the dashboard
and in a widget
* **Weekly digest** email with band counts, trend and the refresh list
* **AI refresh brief** (optional, bring your own OpenAI / Anthropic / Gemini key):
a Markdown brief saved as a note. Nothing is sent until you confirm the token
estimate.
#### Built to be light
* Custom tables; the only post meta written is your per-post list of ignored phrases,
automatic pruning
* Audits run in Action Scheduler batches that adapt to your server’s time limit
and resume where they left off
* Re-scores a post when you save it; drops it when unpublished
* Search Console via a service-account JSON key (stored encrypted); nightly sync
* WP-CLI: `wp stalemender audit run|status|cancel`, `wp stalemender gsc sync|status`,`
wp stalemender export --file=`, `wp stalemender score --explain`
#### Hooks for developers
```
stalemender_signals, `stalemender_signal_weights`, `stalemender_post_types`, `stalemender_exclude_post`, `stalemender_score_computed`, `stalemender_outdated_phrases`, `stalemender_gsc_row`, `stalemender_refresh_list_size`, `stalemender_after_audit`, `stalemender_post_html`, `stalemender_builder_html`, `stalemender_http_args`, `stalemender_rescore_on_save`, `stalemender_capability`.
```
### External services
Stalemender scores your content on your own server and never sends anything to the
plugin author. It contacts other servers only in the four cases below. Two are off
until you configure them; the outbound link check is on by default and can be switched
off.
#### Google Search Console (optional, off by default)
Used for the “search traffic trend” signal. Nothing is sent until you paste a Google
service-account key, pick a property and turn on the sync.
* Endpoints: `https://oauth2.googleapis.com/token` to obtain a short-lived access
token, `https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites` to list the properties
the service account can see when you open the property picker, and `https://www.
googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/sites/{property}/searchAnalytics/query` to read
performance data.
* Sent: a signed authentication token created from your service-account key (the
private key itself never leaves your server), the property identifier you chose,
and two date ranges (the last 28 days and the 28 days before). No post content
or page URLs are sent.
* Received and stored: page URLs of your own site with their clicks, impressions
and average position. Totals are stored per post in the plugin’s scores table
for as long as the post is published; any error message returned by Google and
a list of up to 50 unmatched URLs are stored in options. Everything is deleted
on uninstall unless “keep data” is enabled.
* When: whenever you click “Sync now”, run `wp stalemender gsc sync`, and, while
the nightly sync is enabled, automatically once a day at 03:00 site time. The
access token is cached for about 55 minutes.
* Scope requested: Search Console read-only (`webmasters.readonly`). The key is
stored encrypted in your database and can be removed at any time from Settings
Search Console.
* Google terms: https://developers.google.com/terms – Privacy: https://policies.
google.com/privacy
#### AI refresh brief (optional, off by default, bring your own key)
Used only when you open a post, click “AI refresh brief”, read the token estimate
and then click “Generate brief”. It never runs automatically.
* Sent to the provider you selected: the post title, its URL, last-modified date,
freshness score and band, word count, number of internal inbound links, up to
20 headings, the outdated phrases found, the current meta description, the Search
Console click counts if you connected it, and the first 6,000 characters of the
post text. Your API key is sent in the request header. Your site URL is not sent
apart from the post’s own permalink.
* Received: a Markdown brief, saved as a note on the post in your database. The
number of tokens used is logged locally; the text of the request is not.
* Your API key is stored encrypted in your database; only its last four characters
are ever shown again.
* Providers and endpoints:
* OpenAI – `https://api.openai.com/v1/chat/completions` – Terms: https://openai.
com/policies/terms-of-use – Privacy: https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy
* Anthropic – `https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages` – Terms: https://www.anthropic.
com/legal/commercial-terms – Privacy: https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy
* Google Gemini – `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/` – Terms:
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms – Privacy: https://policies.google.com/
privacy
* OpenAI-compatible endpoint – any base URL you enter, including a server on your
own network. The plugin does not restrict this address; the terms and privacy
policy of that service apply.
#### Outbound link check (optional, off by default)
The “broken outbound links” signal checks whether the external links in your own
posts still work. To do that, your server contacts the third-party websites you
link to. It is off until you switch it on, and there is no fixed provider: the addresses
contacted are the ones already published in your own content, so their terms and
privacy policies are those of the sites you chose to link to.
* What is sent: an HTTP HEAD request to the linked URL, or a GET request limited
to 20 KB if the site refuses HEAD. The request identifies your site with the
user-agent `Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Stalemender/; +https://your-site/)`,
the normal courtesy for automated requests. No content, cookies or visitor data
are sent. Links pointing at private or local network addresses are never requested.
* When: only while an audit you started is running, or when you click “Rescan”
on a post. Never on page views, on post save, or on a schedule. At most 20 links
per post and 100 requests per batch; results are cached for 7 days; requests
to the same host are spaced out; checks stop automatically after repeated connection
failures. robots.txt is not consulted.
* How to turn it on: Settings Signals “Check outbound links”. The setting is
off when the plugin is installed, so no third-party site is contacted until you
enable it. Developers can adjust request arguments with the `stalemender_http_args`
filter.
#### Weekly digest email (optional, off by default)
When enabled, every Monday at 08:00 site time the plugin sends one email through
your site’s normal `wp_mail()`, with no third-party mail service, to the addresses
you enter or to the site admin email. It contains the average score, band counts
and the top-10 refresh list with post titles and edit links.
#### What is stored locally
Scores and signals per post, an internal link map, scan summaries, notes with the
WordPress user ID of the editor who wrote them or generated an AI brief, an optional
assignee user ID per post, and per-user saved views. The plugin adds no front-end
scripts, cookies or visitor tracking, and registers a suggested paragraph under
Settings Privacy Policy Guide.
### Privacy
Stalemender stores, in its own database tables, a freshness score and the signals
behind it for every published post and page: publish and modified dates, word count,
internal links, outbound links it checked, the headings it flagged, and, only when
you connect Google Search Console, the clicks, impressions and position Google reports
for that URL. It does not collect anything about your visitors and sets no cookies.
Data leaves your site only for the optional services listed under External services,
each off by default: Google Search Console sync, the AI refresh brief with your
own key, and the outbound link check that requests the URLs found in your content.
The digest email goes to the addresses you enter and contains post titles and scores.
Uninstalling removes the tables, options, scheduled events and encrypted keys unless
you enable “Keep data on uninstall”. The plugin suggests a paragraph for your privacy
policy under Settings Privacy Policy Guide.
## Screenshots
[⌊Audit table with freshness scores, reasons, traffic trend, workflow status and
filters.⌉⌊Audit table with freshness scores, reasons, traffic trend, workflow status
and filters.⌉[
Audit table with freshness scores, reasons, traffic trend, workflow status and filters.
[⌊Post drawer: score breakdown per signal, outdated mentions in context, inbound
links and notes.⌉⌊Post drawer: score breakdown per signal, outdated mentions in
context, inbound links and notes.⌉[
Post drawer: score breakdown per signal, outdated mentions in context, inbound links
and notes.
[⌊Dashboard: band distribution, average score trend and the "refresh next" list.⌉⌊
Dashboard: band distribution, average score trend and the "refresh next" list.⌉[
Dashboard: band distribution, average score trend and the “refresh next” list.
[⌊Settings: signal weights and thresholds.⌉⌊Settings: signal weights and thresholds
.⌉[
Settings: signal weights and thresholds.
[⌊Settings: Search Console connection.⌉⌊Settings: Search Console connection.⌉[
Settings: Search Console connection.
[⌊AI refresh brief saved as a note, with the token estimate shown before sending.⌉⌊
AI refresh brief saved as a note, with the token estimate shown before sending.⌉[
AI refresh brief saved as a note, with the token estimate shown before sending.
## Installation
1. Upload the plugin to `/wp-content/plugins/stalemender` or install it from the Plugins
screen.
2. Activate it.
3. Open **Stalemender** and click **Run first audit**.
4. Optional: connect Search Console under **Settings Search Console** to rank by
lost traffic.
## FAQ
### Does it need Google Search Console?
No. Without it the traffic signal is skipped and the refresh list ranks by staleness
× internal links. With it you also get click trends and “decaying” flags.
### How do I connect Search Console?
Create a service account in Google Cloud with the Search Console API enabled, download
its JSON key, paste it under Settings Search Console, then add the service-account
email as a user on your property in Search Console. Pick the property and enable
the nightly sync.
### Will the audit slow down my site?
No. Posts are scored in background batches (default 50, halved automatically if
a batch runs out of time) and outbound links are checked with cached HEAD requests,
at most 20 per post and 100 per batch.
### Does it work with page builders?
Elementor, Bricks, Beaver Builder and Oxygen data is read from post meta, Divi shortcodes
from post content, so word counts and links are not zero on builder pages.
### Is anything sent to an AI provider?
Only when you click “Generate brief” on a post and confirm the token estimate, and
only if you have enabled AI assist and added your own key. Usage is logged locally.
### Does the plugin send anything to its author?
No. Stalemender has no server of its own, sends no usage statistics or telemetry,
and contacts no address that is not listed under “External services” above. Every
one of those is off until you turn it on.
### Does the bundled Action Scheduler conflict with other plugins?
No. Stalemender loads Action Scheduler 3.9.3 from `lib/action-scheduler/`. Action
Scheduler is built for this: each copy registers its version with `ActionScheduler_Versions`
behind `function_exists()` and `class_exists()` guards, and only the newest copy
on the site boots. WooCommerce and other plugins that bundle it share the same mechanism.
### Where is the JavaScript source?
The admin app ships un-minified in `assets/src/`; the files in `assets/build/` are
produced from them with `npm install && npm run build` (the `package.json` is included).
The bundled Action Scheduler library in `lib/` is unmodified upstream code under
its own GPL licence. Nothing else is compiled or obfuscated.
### Who can see the audit?
Users who can edit others’ posts (filterable with `stalemender_capability`). Settings
need `manage_options`.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“Stalemender – Content Audit, Stale Post Finder & Content Decay Report” is open
source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Emtiaz Zahid ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/emtiazzahid/)
[Translate “Stalemender – Content Audit, Stale Post Finder & Content Decay Report” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/stalemender)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/stalemender/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/stalemender/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/stalemender/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/stalemender/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.0.0
* Initial release.
## Meta
* Version **1.0.0**
* Last updated **19 hours ago**
* Active installations **Fewer than 10**
* WordPress version ** 6.5 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.1.2**
* PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
* Tags
* [content audit](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/content-audit/)[content decay](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/content-decay/)
[Search Console](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/search-console/)[seo](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/)
[stale content](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/stale-content/)
* [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/stalemender/advanced/)
## Ratings
No reviews have been submitted yet.
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stalemender/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stalemender/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Emtiaz Zahid ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/emtiazzahid/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/stalemender/)