External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window
by WebFactory · Uncategorized
Also makes 28 other plugins · 3.5M+ installs across the portfolio →
Internal links & external links manager: open in new window or tab, control nofollow, ugc, sponsored & noopener. SEO friendly.
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
A 88/100
no flags
Active installs
80K+
≈90K estimated
Momentum
+4%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Rating quality scores 85/100. Lift the average: resolve the issues driving the low reviews.
88 health vs 58 average across 25,753 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →4.4%
of downloads still active
At least 80K of 1.8M lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized 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 4 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
Well tuned across the board
Updated 77 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 247 reviews, smoothed to 4.27★
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
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.
30
Momentum
Losing ground
-1.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
6%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.9
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 | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| external links your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| noopener your tag | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| ugc | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| windows | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| new window your tag | #2 | #2 | down 1 |
| nofollow your tag | #2 | #2 | down 1 |
| sponsored | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| new window external links | #1 | #1 | — |
| nofollow free | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| nofollow external links | #1 | #1 | 0 |
| nofollow external link | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| new tab your tag | #3 | #3 | 0 |
| sponsored links | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| nofollow ugc in comments | #1 | #1 | — |
| external link | #2 | #3 | 0 |
| sponsored content | #2 | #2 | 0 |
| noreferrer | #2 | #1 | down 1 |
| links | #4 | #4 | 0 |
| window | #4 | #7 | down 1 |
179 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 109 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Your five tags are all earning their place. Each gets you onto page 1 of its own search, so none is worth giving up. “links”, “window” and “content links” (#4, #4 and #6 untagged) would be the next worth testing if a slot frees up.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 53.6K · 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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
4
releases in the last 12 months
3mo ago
latest release · v2.66 · 16 Aug 2026
68
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 “80K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band today and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 90K.
At the current install trend, crossing 90K+ in roughly 1409 days.
Install history since 9 Oct 2021
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ Ankabird1.0y ago
Almost nothing at free version.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bondimedical31.3y ago
This plugin is exactly what I needed to manage external link behavior on my site. The ability to customize nofollow and dofollow rules by domain is a huge win for SEO, especially for trusted citations while preventing link equity leakage. I really appreciate how intuitive the interface is — you can set default behaviors, override for specific links, and apply rules consistently across the site. Also love that it handles noopener and noreferrer attributes out of the box. Support has been rock solid and the plugin is clearly well-maintained. If you care about SEO hygiene and link control, this is a must-have. 5 stars!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Mayhymn1.5y ago
Messed my whole site up.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Vladimir Unguru2.2y ago
It works well for my blog. Just an idea: I needed to hide the icon in the CTA buttons and I solved this easily by adding code in the CSS of my theme. It would be nice though if there was a simple exception option based on selector, just for the icon.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ drunkfox2.3y ago
I wrote 3 emails to the support, but the support doesn’t answer.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ dobem2.4y ago
The plugin only works for new posts added after installing the plugin, or if you edit your posts one by one. Note that the developers do not respond to any comments with 1 star or 5 stars. For them, the opinion of those who use it is worthless. Do you understand that? If you uninstall noreferrer it becomes active again. In other words, the guy makes the plugin and if you decide to uninstall everything, everything goes back to the way it was before. It’s a basic thing, there should be a plugin that removes all rel=”noreferrer” from the database, because if you don’t want noreferrer you will never want it to stay in the database. This topic was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by dobem. This topic was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by dobem.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ EuBo2.5y ago
has been using it for many years and still strong and support is professional.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ audioscavenger2.6y ago
Broken Link Checker is a better free option. It does what this plugin does and also scans your links for free.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 2.65 2026-05-21 minor fixes 2.65
- — Version 2.64 2026-03-21 PHP 8.5 compatibility bug fixes 2.64
- — Version 2.63 2025-07-12 _load_textdomain fix 2.63
- — Version 2.62 2024-10-13 minor security fixes and code tweaks 2.62
- — Version 2.61 2024-07-08 minor security fixes 2.61
- — Version 2.60 2024-02-20 fixed WordPress Network activation bug 2.60
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 3 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (2.66). Sites still on an older version should update.
- Patched Medium · 4.3 External Links <= 2.57 - Cross-Site Request Forgery via action_admin_action_wpel_dismiss_notice ↗2023-03-08 Cross-Site Request Forgery Affects <= 2.57 Patched in 2.58
- 2022-11-20 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects <= 2.55 Patched in 2.56
- 2016-03-23 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation Affects < 1.81 Patched in 1.81
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 26 languages, 11 at 90% or more
Plus 2 more locales with partial translations.
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
5 of 8 pass · checked 31 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 9 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 9 of 9 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("use this"); say who the plugin is for and what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ✓ Headings and lists 11 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 4,502 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-11-01 90K+ → 80K+ down after 175 days in tier
- 2026-05-10 80K+ → 90K+ up after 12 days in tier
- 2026-04-28 90K+ → 80K+ down after 260 days in tier
- 2025-08-11 80K+ → 90K+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2025-08-10 90K+ → 80K+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2025-08-08 80K+ → 90K+ up after 4 days in tier
- 2025-08-04 90K+ → 80K+ down after 6 days in tier
- 2025-07-29 80K+ → 90K+ up after 3 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).
-
External Links Manager – Open new window in a new tab + nofollow, noreferrer 50+ installs · 4.0★ · 5 shared tags B -
External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ installs · 4.4★ · 3 shared tags A -
Open Links In New Tab 800+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags D -
Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ installs · 4.1★ · 3 shared tags A -
External Links New Tab 10+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags -
All Nofollow — installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/wp-external-links" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window: 80K+ active installs, 4.3★ (247 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/wp-external-links
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