Side Menu Lite – Sticky Floating Side Menu

77 Quality Score

Active Installs

17/30

With 7,000 active installs and a popularity subscore of 57, the plugin has a modest user base that is significantly smaller than leading alternatives like Joinchat at 700,000 installs.

Update Freshness

25/25

The maintenance score is a perfect 100, with a last update on 2026-05-20, which suggests active development despite the low install count.

User Rating

12/15

An 80 out of 100 rating from 12 reviewers is a solid score, though the small sample size means it should be interpreted with some caution.

Support Health

8/15

Support health sits at 50, with 0 support threads recorded, which means there is essentially no public track record of the author helping users.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Compatibility scores 100 out of 100, tested with WordPress 7.0 and requiring only PHP 7.4 and WordPress 4.3, giving it very broad compatibility.

Scores higher than 54% of indexed plugins

About

Create a sticky vertical sidebar menu that enhances navigation and highlights important links on your website.

Active Installs 7k+

Rating ★★★★ 4/5

Last Updated 2026-08-25 6:03am GMT

Requires WordPress 4.3+

Tested Up To 7.1

Requires PHP 7.4+

Security History

6 known vulnerabilities, all patched

2 High 4 Medium

Most recent: January 24, 2025

View details ▸

Side Menu Lite <= 5.3.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Settings Update Medium

January 24, 2025 Patched in ["5.3.2"] CVE-2025-24724

Side Menu Lite – add sticky fixed buttons <= 4.2 - Cross-Site Request Forgery Medium

April 11, 2024 Patched in ["4.2.1"] CVE-2024-3476

Multiple Wow-Company Plugins (Various Versions) -- Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via 'page' parameter Medium

May 22, 2023 Patched in ["4.0.2"] CVE-2023-2362

Side Menu Lite <= 4.0 - Cross-Site Request Forgery to Item Deletion Medium

March 8, 2023 Patched in ["4.0.1"] CVE-2023-27418

Side Menu Lite - add sticky fixed buttons < 2.2.6 - SQL Injection High

July 27, 2021 Patched in ["2.2.6"] CVE-2021-24580

Side Menu Lite <= 2.2 - SQL Injection High

June 28, 2021 Patched in ["2.2.1"] CVE-2021-24521

What It Does

Side Menu Lite adds a sticky vertical sidebar menu to your WordPress site, letting you surface important links without relying on the default header navigation. It floats alongside your content as visitors scroll, functioning much like a persistent call-to-action rail. The plugin is positioned as a lightweight alternative to heavier menu builders.

Who It's For

This plugin suits site owners who want a persistent side navigation bar for things like service directories, real estate listings, restaurant menus, or portfolio anchors where quick access to key sections matters. It also works for long-form content sites and course platforms that benefit from a sticky in-page menu. Smaller sites that need a simple floating link panel without configuring a full mega-menu will get the most out of it.

Who Should Skip It

If you already rely on a well-structured main navigation or a dedicated page builder menu module, this plugin adds visual clutter without much real benefit. Sites with primarily mobile traffic may find a floating side menu intrusive or hard to interact with on small screens.

The Bottom Line

Side Menu Lite delivers a focused, narrowly useful feature with excellent maintenance and compatibility signals, but the very small install count and zero public support history make it a riskier bet than more established alternatives. It is worth trying on a staging site first, especially if you value recent updates over community proof. For most users, Float menu or Sticky Menu & Sticky Header offers similar functionality with more social proof.

Related Plugins

Joinchat 88/100

Pick Joinchat if your goal is a floating chat button rather than a full navigation side menu, especially given its 700,000 installs and stronger support track record.

User Menus 84/100

Pick User Menus when you need to control nav menu visibility by user role or login state, which Side Menu Lite does not appear to handle.

Sticky Menu & Sticky Header 84/100

Pick Sticky Menu & Sticky Header if you just want to pin your existing header or any element on scroll rather than build a separate floating side panel.

Nav Menu Roles 84/100

Pick Nav Menu Roles when role-based menu item visibility is the core requirement, as it does that job more reliably than a floating sidebar plugin.

Float menu 81/100

Pick Float menu if you want a similar sticky side menu concept but with more customization options and a larger install base at 30,000.