Grade B

Page Links To

Name: Page Links To
Rating: 4.8 (157 reviews)
Author: Mark Jaquith

⤓ Download v3.4.1 on WordPress.org ↗

by Mark Jaquithupdated 2026-04-04🌟The Rising Star

A seasoned redirect staple with a pesky new tab bug.

HealthyGrowing

90/100

This simple redirect tool works well despite a recurring bug with the new tab feature.

Loved34/40

Trustworthy14/15

Fair & Honest15/15

Maintained15/18

Momentum12/12

✂️

You might not need this plugin. Its core job is small enough to live in your theme's functions.php.

Show the snippet

// Save a custom redirect URL via the post editor (add a meta box or use the CLI).
// This snippet reads the meta and redirects on the front end.

add_action( 'template_redirect', function () {
    if ( ! is_singular() ) {
        return;
    }
    $url = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_page_links_to', true );
    if ( $url ) {
        wp_redirect( esc_url_raw( $url ), 301 );
        exit;
    }
} );

// Rewrite the permalink in nav menus and post loops to point to the custom URL.
add_filter( 'post_link',        'plt_custom_url', 10, 2 );
add_filter( 'page_link',        'plt_custom_url', 10, 2 );
add_filter( 'post_type_link',   'plt_custom_url', 10, 2 );

function plt_custom_url( $url, $post ) {
    $custom = get_post_meta( is_object( $post ) ? $post->ID : $post, '_page_links_to', true );
    return $custom ? esc_url( $custom ) : $url;
}

Keep in mind:This snippet has no settings UI for entering the URL; you would need to add a meta box or set the meta value manually.

More plugins you can skip →

Active installs

~150,000

our estimate · wp.org shows 100k+

→ on track for 200k+in ~3 months

Rating

4.9★

157 ratings

Trend · vs a year ago

+205%

Growing fast

225 → 686 installs/day

What to watch out for

MINORreviews unevenly distributed over time

Downloads over time

real new installs per day · release spikes shown separately from the trend

2025-04-302025-08-082025-11-162026-02-232026-06-03

organicrelease spikerelease tailorganic trend · 14d rolling median

Growing fast · +205% in the last year

225/day a year ago→686/day today

Reviews

what people actually say

Page Links To is a well-loved, focused utility plugin that reliably redirects WordPress pages/posts to external URLs, though a recurring bug with the "open in new tab" feature — particularly on paginated or dynamically loaded content and recent WordPress versions — is a notable caveat.

What people like

+Does exactly what it advertises: redirects pages or posts to an external URL reliably×7
+Simple and easy to use×5
+Works with modern WordPress including FSE/block themes and WP 6+×3
+Useful visual indicator (link icon) in the posts list to identify which posts use the plugin
+Users are relieved and grateful that the plugin has been kept up to date after a period of inactivity×3
+Works with third-party page builders such as Elementor

Common complaints

−The 'open in new tab' feature is broken or unreliable, reported across multiple reviews and WordPress versions×3
−The 'open in new tab' function specifically fails on paginated archives or after a 'load more' action in Elementor-based layouts
−Permalink configuration can cause issues; requires a Custom structure to work correctly
−Plugin page shows an outdated notice at times, causing concern among users about maintenance status×2

Review trustReviews look organic

4.83★Verified rating — holds steady vs the raw 4.90★
10%One-shot reviewers — most reviewers are active community members

Reviews per month · 5★ vs lower

2023-08-192025-01-102026-06-04

5★ reviews1–4★ reviews

All-time ratings · 157 total

5★

150

4★

3★

2★

1★

Latest reviews · 90 analyzed

2026-04-05★★★★★Really good plugin jahher
2026-04-01★★★★★Simple and it works theBlick
2025-05-09★★★★★Had issues, then understood I had to change Permalinks settings.ianstudio
2025-02-02★★★★★Right to the point marbaque
2024-10-22★★★★★Very good plugin – with a little bug Sofi-Soao
2024-09-18★★★★★great, this is the SOLUTION supergap
2024-08-01★★★★★Does not open link in new tab jscoder
2024-07-29★★★★★simple plugin that works well M.cartoon
2024-03-29★★★★★Old and gold plugin to redirect post and products Laxmikant Bhumkar
2024-03-28★★★★★So Happy …KSLGraphics

Releases

recent versions from WordPress.org SVN

2026-04-04v3.4.1
2026-03-31v3.4.0
2024-03-26v3.3.7
2021-12-17v3.3.6
2020-12-23v3.3.5
2020-07-23v3.3.4
2020-02-29v3.3.3
2020-02-18v3.3.2

For developers & the curious

the raw signals behind the grade — none of this is on the friendly summary above

Download signals

Baselines are computed on organic days only — release spikes and their tails are excluded, so they're not inflated by the auto-update wave.

648

Baseline · median of last 7 organic days

384

Prior 7-day baseline

441

Floor · 25th percentile over 14 days

2,506

Mean release-day peak (30d)

648

Latest day · 2026-06-03(organic)

+68.8%

Week-over-week organic trend

Review signals

Concentration and drive-by metrics drive the review-burst and fake-review flags. 30–40% solo reviewers is normal; we only flag the extremes.

23%

Max month share · biggest single 30-day window

1.94

Distribution CV · <0.6 even, >1.5 bursty

94%

5★ share in analyzed sample

10%

Solo reviewers · only this one wp.org activity

—

Volume velocity · last 6mo vs prior 6mo

4.84 → 4.83★

Sample avg · raw → solo-filtered