Hello Dolly
This is not just a plugin, it symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation summed up in two words sung most famously by Louis Armstrong.
4.4(176 reviews)
·600K+ active installs·Updated 5 months agoAs of April 2026, Hello Dolly is a WordPress WordPress plugin with 600K+ active installations and a 4.4/5 rating from 176 reviews. It has been downloaded 15M+ times in total. Requires WordPress 4.6+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2008. Download volume is stable this week.
4.4/5176 reviews
600K+active installs
15M+total downloads
18 yearssince 2008
Overview
This is not just a plugin, it symbolizes the hope and enthusiasm of an entire generation summed up in two words sung most famously by Louis Armstrong: Hello, Dolly. When activated you will randomly see a lyric from Hello, Dolly in the upper right of your admin screen on every page.
Thanks to Sanjib Ahmad for the artwork.
Ratings & Reviews
4.4176 reviews
5 ★
136
4 ★
13
3 ★
5
2 ★
8
1 ★
14
Recent Reviews
A tribute to the plugin that started it all
by mikelane·1 month ago
This standalone PHP script delivers the classic Hello Dolly lyrics.
It’s the classic Hello Dolly, one file, no plugin, pure tribute to the legend.
<?php
/**
* Hello Dolly - Minimalist Standalone with Fade-in
*/
function hello_dolly_get_lyric() {
$lyrics = "Hello, Dolly
Well, hello, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly
I can tell, Dolly
You're still glowin', you're still crowin'
You're still goin' strong
We feel the room swayin'
While the band's playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
So, take her wrap, fellas
Find her an empty lap, fella
Dolly'll never go away again
Hello, Dolly
Well, hello, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly
I can tell, Dolly
You're still glowin', you're still crowin'
You're still goin' strong
We feel the room swayin'
While the band's playin'
One of your old favourite songs from way back when
Golly, gee, fellas
Find her a vacant knee, fellas
Dolly'll never go away
Dolly'll never go away
Dolly'll never go away again";
$lyrics = explode("\n", $lyrics);
return htmlspecialchars(trim($lyrics[mt_rand(0, count($lyrics) - 1)]));
}
$chosen = hello_dolly_get_lyric();
?>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Hello Dolly</title>
<style>
body {
display: flex;
justify-content: center;
align-items: center;
height: 100vh;
margin: 0;
background-color: #fafafa;
font-family: serif;
color: #333;
}
#dolly {
font-size: 2rem;
text-align: center;
padding: 0 20px;
opacity: 0;
animation: fadeIn 2s ease-in forwards;
}
@keyframes fadeIn {
from { opacity: 0; transform: translateY(10px); }
to { opacity: 1; transform: translateY(0); }
}
.refresh-hint {
position: fixed;
bottom: 20px;
font-family: sans-serif;
font-size: 0.8rem;
color: #999;
text-decoration: none;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<div id="dolly">
<?php echo $chosen; ?>
</div>
<a href="?" class="refresh-hint">Refresh for more lyrics</a>
</body>
</html>
A Classic Piece of WordPress History
by shadowheezy·5 months ago
Hello Dolly might be simple, but it’s iconic. Every time I open my WordPress dashboard and see a lyric from Louis Armstrong’s “Hello, Dolly!” it’s a small reminder of WordPress’s roots — creativity, simplicity, and a touch of joy.
It doesn’t do much, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s a little piece of nostalgia that connects every WordPress user to the spirit of open-source community and fun. Thanks for keeping this classic alive!
“Easy to install, worked perfectly. Helped me learn WordPress plugin structur
by manideep makkina·8 months ago
“Easy to install, worked perfectly. Helped me learn WordPress plugin structure
Re-added this plugin
by TapSuccess·10 months ago
In the past, I have deleted this plugin. Now I am learning how to make plugins…. I like it! Thanks, Matt
Nice Biolerplate code plugin
by dimkiriakos·1 year ago
Even many people give a lot of hate to this plugin, they should not! This plugin is not something that it’s useful your site operations, but it’s a nice boilerplate for people that they want to start building plugins for WordPress. It shows that you don’t need to write so much code to customize something in your WordPress app. It introduces the wptexturize function the get_user_locale, the admin_notices action hook and the admin_head action hook too. Yes it’s not the mode elegant thing that comes. But it can be educational for beginners
- This topic was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by dimkiriakos.
Download Trends
Today: 2KYesterday: 3KThis week: 15KPeriod total: 878K
Compatibility
| WordPress | 4.6+ requiredTested up to 6.9.4 |
| PHP | false+ required |
Version Adoption
v1.7
93.0%
v1.6
6.9%
v1.5
0.1%
Frequently Asked Questions
Contributors
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.