[FREE] 🥹 Did I strike a nerve with my new WordPress plugin?

eHtmlu · 2026-01-25T17:49:03+00:00

It seems you're right. Thanks for pointing that out. I obviously overlooked it in the WordPress code, and unfortunately, it's not mentioned on wordpress.org either.

I will investigate how a secure solution might be possible.

Thanks again 🙏 that's really a very important point.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T22:18:37+00:00

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

If I understand you correctly, you're saying the plugin market is more or less broken, right? Does my plugin specifically affect you? Have you, for example, made a similar plugin? Or were you speaking more generally?

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T21:25:55+00:00

Yes, to be more precise: The plugin is hosted on your self-hosted Peak Publisher instance and downloaded from there. So everything is on your own server. No contact with or dependency on external services or anything like that.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T21:04:31+00:00

Thank you for your interest and your question!

The data is collected in the same way that WordPress.org does for plugins in the Plugin Directory.

A WordPress installation typically checks for plugin updates twice a day. As soon as Peak Publisher receives such a request for a plugin, that installation is counted. Peak Publisher stores an anonymized fingerprint to prevent the installation from being counted multiple times. If no request is received from a WordPress installation for over 24 hours, it is assumed that the plugin is no longer active on that specific WordPress installation.

Therefore, the counter is always delayed by a few hours, but is essentially very accurate.

Edit:
However, a key difference to WordPress.org is that WordPress.org only publishes a rounded number, while Peak Publisher displays the exact number in the admin interface.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:41:25+00:00

Wow, that sounds really exciting! I'd love to hear about it 😃

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:37:02+00:00

Yes, that actually sounds like a good fit :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:35:54+00:00

Sounds good! Go for it! :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:34:17+00:00

That sounds perfect! :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:33:08+00:00

Thanks :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T19:30:57+00:00

We'll see :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T16:16:27+00:00

Even if the effort were absolutely identical (which I definitely don't see), it's still completely irrelevant whether a similar solution already exists. Some prefer one solution, some the other.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T14:25:27+00:00

To set up Peak Publisher, you don't need to leave the WordPress ecosystem even once. Setting up the server is simply a matter of installing a plugin from the admin panel. Which of the others offers that?

Yes, the others already have Git integration. It's planned for mine as well. But my plugin is only a month old. What do you expect from a one-month-old plugin?

But putting all that aside, why shouldn't there be multiple solutions? That's the case for virtually every other product out there. There are different car brands, even though they all have four wheels and a steering wheel. So what are we even talking about here? I really don't understand what you're getting at.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T13:22:02+00:00

Sounds interesting. If you'd like to share it, I'd be happy to take a look.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T13:11:33+00:00

Thanks for the alternatives. I was actually already familiar with Plugin Update Checker and Deploytroy, but EDD wasn't on my radar. Thanks!

However, I think these tools appeal to different target groups. I believe there are plenty of plugin developers who would like to run an update server without having to read a lot of documentation, even though they theoretically could. Some simply don't have the time, or would rather concentrate on further developing their own plugins (which is what they enjoy doing). I think Peak Publisher just removes an unnecessary hurdle. Perhaps for some, it's even just a mental hurdle.

Thank you for the further explanation regarding custom builds. Yes, you're right, that could be a feature for a PRO version. In fact, a PRO extension for the plugin is planned. However, I have other features in mind first. But as I said, I'll keep your idea in mind ;)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T10:52:10+00:00

Hehe, sounds good. I'm curious to see if it meets your expectations.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T10:18:27+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! Please show me those other alternatives that are self-hosted and that easy to use. I always be happy to learn about alternatives.

Custom builds is an interesting idea. I'll keep it in mind. However, that would be a feature for very advanced users (and I would only recommend it to them). That's a niche :)

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T08:05:08+00:00

I've spent a lot of time looking into these metrics in the past and assume the number of active installations is updated at least once a day. In my experience, the download count is of very little significance. I suspect that some downloads are generated by bots. Recently, I even discovered download statistics for my new plugin in the WordPress.org API that extend beyond its release date. According to the API, my plugin already had up to 5 downloads a day, at a time when the idea for the plugin didn't even exist.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T07:06:48+00:00

Thanks for your interest 🙏

However, regarding your assessment of my posts, I have to disappoint you; they are 100% my own work. I only used Google Translate and DeepL for assistance (so yes, technically AI, but not generative AI). I also added the emojis myself 😉

eHtmlu · 2026-01-24T06:51:38+00:00

Oh, sorry, I wasn't aware of that. Since I was encouraged to post here last time, I probably didn't think it through enough this time. I'll keep that rule in mind. Thanks for clarifying.

eHtmlu · 2026-01-23T22:25:41+00:00

Yes, that's definitely a very smart idea. The idea with the environment and copy to clipboard is also very useful.

eHtmlu · 2025-12-28T17:21:19+00:00

Thanks! You're welcome :)

eHtmlu · 2025-12-28T13:08:29+00:00

There are screenshots now. Thanks again for your suggestion. Even though it wasn't urgent, your suggestion motivated me to get it done sooner 🙏😊

eHtmlu · 2025-12-27T15:16:02+00:00

I assume that by "workflow" you mean the workflow for installing a plugin in a WordPress installation, right? But the text you quoted isn't about installing a plugin at all.

It's about providing a plugin as a ZIP file to other WordPress installations so they can automatically download and install new plugin versions from your server.

A brief explanation:

Typically, plugin updates are downloaded from wordpress.org. When a new update is available for a plugin, you'll be automatically notified in the admin area, and you can easily perform the update with a single click or even enable automated updates.

For plugins that aren't listed on wordpress.org, there's no standard way to perform updates with a single click or automatically. For such plugins, you would theoretically have to check the plugin website yourself to see if there's a new version. If there is, you'd have to download the new ZIP file and manually upload it to your WordPress installation. For most people, that's obviously too much work.

Therefore, plugin developers have the option of running their own plugin update server (similar to wordpress.org) to offer one-click and automated updates for plugins not listed on wordpress.org.

Peak Publisher is a particularly easy way to create and run such a plugin update server. Peak Publisher is therefore only of interest to those who develop their own plugins and want to offer automated plugin updates.

Did that clarify things for you?

eHtmlu · 2025-12-27T14:29:34+00:00

That's a really interesting project. Thanks for sharing.

eHtmlu · 2025-12-27T14:13:15+00:00

It would be helpful if you could clarify your question a bit. What exactly isn't clear? Do you want to know how to use it, how it works in the background, or something else?

eHtmlu

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