Open External Links In New Windows
by Keef · Uncategorized
Opens external links (those to other websites outside of your own domain, eg., Facebook, Twitter, etc) in new windows.
45 health vs 56 average across 11,424 Uncategorized plugins
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 10+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.3.34, well behind 6.8.
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.
Under-optimized
Biggest win: Update recency
To rank higher: Last updated 3929 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Daily downloads
Since 2022-10-05 · 1,381 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peaks are release surges
51
now · peak 157
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
Downloads per 1k installs · 30d
Engagement proxy · release spikes are signal, a long slide is an aging base
Estimated active installs
wp.org reports only “70+”. The real number sits in this band.
Refined from the date this plugin crossed into its current band.
Install history · since 2022-10-04 · 1,375 observations
Details
Growth timeline
Install-band crossings we have observed, and how long each band took to outgrow
- 2026-02-15 80+ → 70+ down after 5 days in band
- 2026-02-10 70+ → 80+ up after 1 days in band
- 2026-02-09 80+ → 70+ down after 2 days in band
- 2026-02-07 70+ → 80+ up after 1 days in band
- 2026-02-06 80+ → 70+ down after 344 days in band
- 2025-02-27 90+ → 80+ down after 8 days in band
- 2025-02-19 80+ → 90+ up after 17 days in band
- 2025-02-02 90+ → 80+ down after 10 days in band
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach — closest match first
-
External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A -
External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ installs · 4.4★ · 1 shared tag A - E External Links 9K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag D
-
Open Links In New Tab 900+ installs · 4.0★ · 1 shared tag D -
External Links Overview 800+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag B - B Better WordPress External Links 400+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Open External Links In New Windows into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/open-external-links-in-new-window" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Open External Links In New Windows — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Open External Links In New Windows: 70+ active installs, 4.5★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-07-17. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/open-external-links-in-new-window