Tips For Promoting Newly Released WordPress Plugins

So you just created and released a cool WordPress plugin that solves a problem. It’s now among 29,000 other plugins on the plugin directory. How do you tell the world your plugin exists? WordPress.org doesn’t have an area to publish press releases or announcements of new plugins.

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However, all plugins published to the repository show up on the newest plugins list. This list has an RSS feed but you have to know where to look to subscribe to it. In WordPress 3.8, the dashboard widget showing the newest plugins released was removed.

News Plugins Released On WordPress.org

If Your Plugin Solves a Problem, We Want To Hear About It

The best way to get your plugin noticed is to contact authors of websites that primarily focus on WordPress. For example, you can contact us. When pitching your plugin, don’t pretend it’s a sales pitch. Provide the name of the plugin, it’s target audience and the problem it solves. There is no guarantee that WPTavern or any other website will write about your plugin, even if that information is provided. But it’s worth a shot.

When we write about plugins on WPTavern, they’re either cool, innovative, or solve a problem for a large number of users. One of the hardest things to do as a writer is to write about something that is not interesting. The plugins reviewed on WPTavern are seen by a huge audience. I love hearing stories from new plugin authors of how an article on WPTavern put their plugin on the map.

WordPress Podcast Dedicated To Plugins

Plugins A-Z is a podcast dedicated to WordPress plugins. Hosted by Marcus Couch and John Overall, they discuss new plugins that have caught their eye. You can get in touch with them via their contact form. Don’t only submit information about your plugin, but extend an offer to be on their show as a guest. Who knows a plugin better than the person who created it?

Subreddit Dedicated To WordPress Plugins

A few weeks ago, we mentioned Reddit was a good place to hang out if you enjoyed discussing WordPress topics. There is a subreddit available dedicated to WordPress plugins. Developers are welcome to show off their plugins for feedback and offer custom development services when needed.

Plugin Developers Are Problem Solvers

In general, plugin developers are not looking for fame. Most plugins are solutions to a problem or scratch a developer’s itch. By releasing a plugin into the wild, the hope is it will solve the same problem for others. Thank you to every plugin developer who has placed their code onto the WordPress.org plugin repository. More often then not, those plugins are solutions to problems.

If you know any other outlets authors can use to promote their new plugins, please share them in the comments.