AffiliateWP – External Referral Links
by Syed Balkhi · Analytics
Also makes 99 other plugins · 21.7M+ installs across the portfolio →
Allows affiliates to promote external landing pages by including the affiliate's ID or username in any outbound links to your e-commerce store.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
C 68/100
Stale · Few reviews
Active installs
700+
≈770 estimated
Momentum
+50%
low volume, under 1,000 downloads a month
Biggest opportunity: Swap “cross domain tracking”, “external sites” and “affiliatewp” for “referral links”, “referral” and “outbound links”. “cross domain tracking” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referral links” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “external sites” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referral” sits at #17 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “affiliatewp” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “outbound links” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
68 health vs 67 average across 1,852 Analytics plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.5%
of downloads still active
At least 700 of 19.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Analytics plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,013 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Analytics plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Well optimized
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 434 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 6.8.12; the current branch is 7.1
3.0★ over 2 reviews, weighted for review count to 4.1★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
43
Momentum
Holding steady
-0.5
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
33%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.3
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| external referral links your tag | #2 | #19 | up 1 |
| referral links | #4 | #21 | — |
| promote other sites your tag | #12 | #24 | down 1 |
| referral id | #5 | #23 | — |
| affiliatewp your tag | #15 | #23 | down 7 |
| referral | #17 | #23 | 0 |
| outbound links | #18 | #23 | down 1 |
| referral tracking | #21 | #24 | up 1 |
| referral plugin | #23 | #24 | 0 |
| cross domain tracking your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| external sites your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
15 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 9 listed. 6 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “cross domain tracking”, “external sites” and “affiliatewp” for “referral links”, “referral” and “outbound links”. “cross domain tracking” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referral links” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “external sites” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “referral” sits at #17 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “affiliatewp” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “outbound links” sits at #18 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- Slipping on “affiliatewp”. Down 7 places since 2026-09-30, now #15. Check what shipped around then, and what moved above you.
- One page off on “promote other sites”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,492 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 763 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
1.2y ago
latest release · v1.2.2 · 27 Aug 2025
7
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 95% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “700+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 3 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 72% of the way through.
Install history since 21 Apr 2016
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Budakboygolf1.5y ago
This plugin is very userfull for us. It avoid main web being ban… so we just risk the landing page only (site B).
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ mzughbor5.1y ago
sucks – not working
Read on wp.org ↗
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceThe 1 disclosed vulnerability is patched in the current version (1.2.2). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 4.4 AffiliateWP – External Referral Links <= 1.2.0 - Authenticated (Administrator+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ↗2025-09-22 CVE-2025-53460 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 1.2.0 Patched in 1.2.2
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 2 languages, 1 at 90% or more
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 2 Nov 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Allows affiliates to promote external landing pages by including the affiliate's ID or username in any outb..."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,358 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 1 of 5 tags appear in the text ("Cross domain tracking", "external referral links", "external sites", "promote other sites" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-07-24 800+ → 700+ down after 188 days in tier
- 2026-01-17 900+ → 800+ down after 261 days in tier
- 2025-05-01 1K+ → 900+ down after 944 days in tier
- 2022-09-30 200+ → 1K+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Cross Domain Tracker for AffiliateWP 200+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags B -
AffiliateWP – Affiliate Area Tabs 3K+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag B -
AffiliateWP – Order Details For Affiliates 2K+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag - A AffiliateWP – Affiliate Product Rates 1K+ installs · 3.8★ · 1 shared tag B
-
AffiliateWP – Affiliate QR Codes 1K+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag - A AffiliateWP – Affiliate Info 1K+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for AffiliateWP – External Referral Links into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/affiliatewp-external-referral-links" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="AffiliateWP – External Referral Links — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> AffiliateWP – External Referral Links: 700+ active installs, 3.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-04. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/affiliatewp-external-referral-links
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