Download Directory
Download Directory allow you to create a download directory website. You will be abble to provide to your visitor a listing of software, freeware, shareware
Consider an alternative
Download Directory shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 3/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 10 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 4.5 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & supportDaily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where Download Directory stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| ajax | >100 |
| directory | >100 |
| download | >100 |
| download manager | >100 |
| downloads | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 3 from 1 reviews
About Download Directory
From the official readme · v1.0.1Description
Download Directory allow you to create a download directory website. You will be abble to provide to your visitor a listing of software, freeware, shareware …
Work with mostly any theme
Multilingual ready : currently translated in French and English. .Pot file provided, can be fully translated in any language.
Slug translatable: Every archive, post, categories, tags … link are translatable. it’s mean than you can provide post slug in your language, like :
- site.dev/download/wordpress
- site.dev/descargas/wordpress
- site.dev/telecharger/wordpres
- …
With Download Directory, you can track the number of times each software are downloaded.
Visitor can also register to an update alert list, allowing them to receive an email alert when new release are available to their favorites softwares.
Updating the version field of a sofware automatically send an email alert to the suscriber of this current software.
User are also able to unregister themself from an update list whenever they want, simply by following the link at the bottom of the mail alerte they have received.
When user click on “download”, they are redirected to a “downloading” page, providing an automatic loading of the download, incrementing download counter and allowing you to display whatever you want in this page (via widgets), like advertising, etc …
This page also display the download link, and, in case it is broken, a link to the website editor, and even link to miror link if you provided it.
You can use 3 miror links, more the direct download link.
French Demo at http://www.patricelaurent.net/telechargements/
See it in action here : http://www.patricelaurent.net/telecharger/wordpress/download-directory/
Usage
- Create a new Downloads, as you will normally do for a normal post.
- In the “software informations” meta box, provide the version, size, download link, editor website, editor url miror link if available
- Choose a category, add tags et license type (eg: freeware, shareware,etc..)
- Add featured image to illustrate it
- publish
Advanced usage
You can use your own template for archive, category, tags and single file.
For archives pages, just create an file called archive-down_repo.php in your current theme directory.
For single page, simply create a single-down_repo.php file in your theme directory.
Adding your own css and style.
create a css file in your theme directory. Name it as you want.
then add this code in your theme function file (or in any personnal plugin):
add_filter('down_repo_style','my_custom_css',10,1);
function my_custom_css($css){
$css=get_stylesheet_directory_uri().'/mycss.css';
return $css;
}
This will symply replace the current css file of the plugin by your one.
If you jsut want to disable the css of the plugin, just add a null filter
add_filter('down_repo_style',function(){return null;},10,1);
Installation
From your WordPress dashboard
- Visit ‘Plugins > Add New’
- Search for ‘download-directory’
- Activate Download Repository Pro from your Plugins page.
- Enjoy
From WordPress.org
- Download the plugin.
- Upload the ‘download-directory’ directory to your ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory, using your favorite method (ftp, sftp, scp, etc…)
- Activate the plugin from your Plugins page.
- Enjoy
From GitHub
- Download the plugin.
- Upload the ‘download-directory’ directory to your ‘/wp-content/plugins/’ directory, using your favorite method (ftp, sftp, scp, etc…)
- Activate the plugin from your Plugins page.
- Enjoy
Changelog
Initial release, this is the first version.
1.0.1
Fix text domain for localization.
1.0
- Initial Release.
For developers
Is this your plugin? Show off the numbers.
Add a live badge to your site, docs or GitHub README. It updates on its own — no account needed.
Best Download Directory alternatives
All ajax plugins →FAQ
Download Directory: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 18, 2026
Is Download Directory free?
Yes. Download Directory is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is Download Directory safe to use in 2026?
Download Directory shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites, is rated 3/5 and was last updated 10 years ago, and scores 24/100 on our health check.
How many websites use Download Directory?
Download Directory is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 5,544 times since it launched in August 2016. It was downloaded 51 times in the last 30 days.
Does Download Directory work with WordPress 7.1?
Download Directory is officially tested up to WordPress 4.5.33, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was Download Directory last updated?
The latest version, 1.0.1, was released on August 6, 2016 (10 years ago).
Who makes Download Directory?
Download Directory is developed and maintained by patrice.
What are the best alternatives to Download Directory?
The most popular alternatives to Download Directory are zipaddr-jp (50K+ installs), SearchWP Live Ajax Search (50K+ installs) and WP-Polls (40K+ installs).
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