What is a WordPress readme generator?
A WordPress readme generator builds the readme.txt file that the WordPress.org plugin directory reads to create a plugin's public listing. You fill in the header fields and the sections, and it emits the file in the exact format the directory parses - the `=== Plugin Name ===` title, the colon-separated header block, and the `== Section ==` bodies - with a live preview beside it showing what the listing page will look like.
The format is fussy in ways that are invisible until something is wrong. `Stable tag` names the version the directory actually serves, so a wrong or missing tag ships nothing no matter what you committed. `Tested up to` is what produces the "untested with your version of WordPress" warning on the listing when it lags behind core. `Tags` indexes the first five and silently ignores the rest. The short description is cut at 150 characters in search results. None of these produce an error you see while writing the file; they produce a listing that looks wrong or a download that does not happen, days later. This tool states each limit next to the field it belongs to, and lists what the directory would do with your file before you download it.
Everything runs client-side. Nothing is uploaded, no account is created, and the draft is kept in your own browser so a reload does not lose it. You can also import an existing readme.txt - paste in the one your plugin already ships and it is parsed back into the form, which is the fastest way to fix an old file or bring a readme up to current requirements without retyping it. Sections in an unusual order, header lines this tool does not model, and inconsistent spacing are all read rather than refused, because that is what real readme files look like.
Two things the file itself cannot carry are worth saying plainly. Banner and icon images are not part of readme.txt: they live in the plugin's `/assets/` folder as `banner-1544x500.png` and `icon-256x256.png`, and the fields here exist so the preview shows the listing you will actually get. Screenshots work the same way - readme.txt carries the numbered captions, and the matching `screenshot-1.png` files go in `/assets/` in that order. The preview is honest about this rather than pretending an image URL in the form will appear on WordPress.org. Once the file is right, download it, drop it in the plugin root, and commit it to the trunk of your SVN repository.
How to use the WordPress readme generator?
Fill in the headings
The plugin name, the contributors' WordPress.org usernames, the stable tag, the WordPress and PHP versions you support, and up to five tags. These become the header block the directory parses first.
Write the description
One short sentence for the search listing, then the long description in Markdown - ## headings, **bold** and * lists all render on the plugin page. The preview beside the form updates as you type.
Add FAQ, screenshots and changelog
Each FAQ becomes its own = question = block. Screenshot captions are numbered to match the screenshot-1.png files in your assets folder. The changelog takes one = version = block per release, newest first.
Check the warnings, then download
Read "What the directory would do with this" - a missing stable tag, an over-long short description, tags past the fifth - then download readme.txt and commit it to your plugin's trunk.
Key Features
Live directory preview
The banner, icon, tabs and sidebar of a WordPress.org listing, rendered from your fields as you type, so you see the page before you publish it.
Import an existing readme.txt
Parses a readme you already ship back into the form, including sections in an unusual order and header lines this tool does not model.
The directory's own limits, stated
Five indexed tags, a 150-character short description, a stable tag that decides what ships - each one shown at the field it applies to, and summarised before download.
Markdown where the directory accepts it
Headings, bold, lists and links render in the description, installation and changelog exactly as they will on the plugin page.
Frequently Asked Questions
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