External Content vs Root Relative URLs

Head-to-head on the signals that matter, from the public WordPress.org data.

External Content

by Thorsten Frommen

Health D44

Root Relative URLs

by MarcusPope

Health F39

Active-install trajectory

External ContentRoot Relative URLs

Active installs, each indexed to 100 at the start of the window. A line above 100 is growing its install base, below 100 is shrinking.

Metric	External Content	Root Relative URLs
Active installs Modeled from the public "N+" band and recent downloads.	20–30	5K–6K ✓
Install trend Change in active installs across the charted window.	-71%	-17% ✓
Overall health	D · 44 ✓	F · 39
Maintenance How recently the plugin was updated.	3/100	3/100
Rating quality Volume-adjusted review quality.	72/100 ✓	57/100
Support Share of forum threads marked resolved.	70/100	70/100
Rating (weighted for review count)	3.9★ ✓	3.3★
Reviews	1	20 ✓
Ranking optimization How well the listing is tuned to rank on wp.org.	32/100	40/100 ✓
Removal risk Maintenance signals that precede a wp.org closure. Not an official status.	High	High
Last updated	10.8y ago	8.9y ago ✓
Downloads · 30d	54	491 ✓
Install conversion Active installs over lifetime downloads. Downloads include every update, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower.	0.4%	6.3% ✓
Category	Uncategorized	Admin & Utilities

✓ marks the stronger plugin on each row. Rows where they're level show no marker.

Release activity

External ContentRoot Relative URLs

7-day average daily downloads. Downloads spike for about a week after each release as the install base re-downloads, so read this as release cadence, not growth.