PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress
by PublishPress · Analytics
Also makes 13 other plugins · 305.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
The best link manager for WordPress. Your links are brandable, trackable, and can have custom view permissions.
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
B 84/100
Few reviews
Active installs
200+
≈210 estimated
Momentum
-25%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “custom urls” for “link cloaking”. “custom urls” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “link cloaking” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
84 health vs 67 average across 1,826 Analytics plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.2%
of downloads still active
At least 200 of 8.9K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Analytics plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,007 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.
This plugin shipped 12 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
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.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 45 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.13★ 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.
35
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.2
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
10%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
-0.2
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| shortlinks your tag | #1 | #6 | 0 |
| link shortener your tag | #10 | #19 | 0 |
| publishpress | #14 | #23 | 0 |
| link cloaking | #16 | #18 | down 2 |
| add link shortener | #12 | #20 | 0 |
| shortener | #24 | #22 | 0 |
| custom urls your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| link tracking your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| redirects your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
26 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 6 listed. 20 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “custom urls” for “link cloaking”. “custom urls” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “link cloaking” sits at #16 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 19 Feb 2023 · 1,350 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 771 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #11,300 to #12,900, alongside the other plugins at 200+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.
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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
12
releases in the last 12 months
2mo ago
latest release · v1.10.1 · 16 Sep 2026
37
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. 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 “200+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 27 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 200.
At the current install trend, crossing 300+ in roughly 202 days.
Install history since 18 Feb 2023
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 4 languages, 0 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.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 27 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
- ✓ Has a FAQ 14 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 14 of 14 read like questions a user would type.
- ✓ Names who it is for Names its audience or use cases ("use this", "great for", "ideal for").
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Block editor.
- ✓ Headings and lists 24 headings and 5 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 10,314 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "link shortener", "link tracking" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-04 100+ → 200+ up after 245 days in tier
- 2026-02-01 90+ → 100+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-01-31 100+ → 90+ down after 146 days in tier
- 2025-09-07 90+ → 100+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-09-04 100+ → 90+ down after 15 days in tier
- 2025-08-20 90+ → 100+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2025-08-16 100+ → 90+ down after 153 days in tier
- 2025-03-16 90+ → 100+ up after 2 days in tier
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).
-
Westroo Short URL Manager — installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags -
ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
Linker – URL shortener & track outbound link clicks 2K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags A -
ShortLinks Pro – Affiliate Links, Link Shortening, Click Tracking & Marketing 100+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/tinypress" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> PublishPress Shortlinks – The Link Manager for WordPress: 200+ active installs, 5.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/tinypress
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