Possibly abandoned Tested up to 4.4.34 #4 in custom url

YOURLS Link Creator

Q: Is YOURLS Link Creator free?

Yes. YOURLS Link Creator is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.

Q: How many websites use YOURLS Link Creator?

YOURLS Link Creator is active on 500+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 27,233 times since it launched in October 2012. It was downloaded 143 times in the last 30 days.

Q: Does YOURLS Link Creator work with WordPress 7.1?

YOURLS Link Creator is officially tested up to WordPress 4.4.34, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.

Q: When was YOURLS Link Creator last updated?

The latest version, 2.1.1, was released on February 25, 2016 (11 years ago).

Q: Who makes YOURLS Link Creator?

YOURLS Link Creator is developed and maintained by Andrew Norcross.

Q: What are the best alternatives to YOURLS Link Creator?

The most popular alternatives to YOURLS Link Creator are Custom Permalinks (100K+ installs), WP Custom Author URL (5K+ installs) and Custom Permalink Editor (4K+ installs).

Creates a custom short URL when saving posts. Requires your own YOURLS install.

By Andrew Norcross · v2.1.1 · Updated 11 years ago

View on WordPress.org Download Compare alternatives →

Active installs500+100+ tier

Downloads · 30d143▲ +55.4% vs prev. 30d

Rating4.5/513 reviews

Health score26/100At risk

All-time downloads27.2KSince Oct 2012

Support resolved0 / 10% in last 2 months

RequiresWP 3.6PHP any

Downloads · 7d38▲ +22.6% week over week

Our verdict

Consider an alternative

YOURLS Link Creator shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 500+ sites, is rated 4.5/5 and was last updated 11 years ago, and scores 26/100 on our health check.

Small user base (500+ active installs)
No update in 10 years
Only tested up to WordPress 4.4 (latest is 7.1)

How does it stack up?

Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support

YOURLS Link Creator vs

Custom Permalinks

YOURLS Link Creator vs

WP Custom Author URL

YOURLS Link Creator vs

Custom Permalink Edit…

YOURLS Link Creator vs

Custom URL for Elemen…

Daily downloads

Yesterday2

Daily average (1y)3

Peak day19May 4, 2026

Last 12 months1K

Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.

Rankings

Where YOURLS Link Creator stands today

Custom url #4 of 12 plugins → Shortlink #5 of 40 plugins → Yourls #1 of 4 plugins →

WordPress.org search rankings

Live position in the plugin search, top 100

Keyword	Position	Competing plugins	Category
custom url	>100	10,000	Best custom url plugins →
shortlink	>100	284	Best shortlink plugins →
yourls	#10	19	Best yourls plugins →

Version adoption

Share of active sites per release.

2.1100.0%

Rating breakdown

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 from 13 reviews

5★84.6%
4★0.00%
3★7.7%
2★0.00%
1★7.7%

About YOURLS Link Creator

From the official readme · v2.1.1

Description

Creates a YOURLS generated shortlink on demand or when saving posts.

Features:

Optional custom keyword for link creation.
Will retrieve existing URL if one has already been created.
Click count appears on post menu
Available for standard posts and custom post types.
Optional filter for wp_shortlink
Built in cron job will fetch updated click counts every hour.

Installation

This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.

Upload yourls-link-creator to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
Navigate to the “YOURLS Settings” option in the Settings Menu.
Enter your YOURLS custom URL and API key
Enjoy!

Changelog

The YOURLS metabox will not appear until a post has been published. This is to prevent empty or otherwise incorrect URLs from getting created.

2.1.1 – 02/25/2016

added yourls_run_cron_jobs filter to allow users to disable the cron job

2.1.0 – 08/06/2015

added yourls_after_url_save action to post transitioning from future to publish (scheduled posts)

2.0.9 – 08/03/2015

added yourls_after_url_save action to fire when the custom URL is generated and stored

2.0.8 – 06/19/2015

added ability to set custom keyword prior to save
added yourls_user_cap filter for modifying default user capability
added yourls_settings_cap filter for modifying settings page capability
added yourls_keyword_filter filter for changing default keyword sanitation
added new legacy file to pick up old functions from Ozh’s plugin
added GitHub plugin updater support

2.0.7 – 02/14/2015

fixed bug with post row actions missing on drafts
updated cron job scheduling

2.0.6 – 02/13/2015

added scheduled posts to available post status
added yourls_post_status filter to modify these (although not sure why you’d want to)
added function to create a link when a post is moved from ‘scheduled’ to ‘publish’ if one doesn’t exist (requires setting update)
added API status check sidebox to the settings page

Full changelog on WordPress.org →

Screenshots

Metabox to create YOURLS link with optional keyword field

Example of a post with a created link and click count

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.

HTML

<a href="https://pageforge.pro/directory/plugins/yourls-link-creator/"><img src="https://pageforge.pro/directory/badge/plugin/yourls-link-creator/" alt="YOURLS Link Creator active installs" height="22"></a>

Markdown

[![YOURLS Link Creator active installs](https://pageforge.pro/directory/badge/plugin/yourls-link-creator/)](https://pageforge.pro/directory/plugins/yourls-link-creator/)

Health score

26At risk

Freshness0/25
Compatibility2/20
Rating18/25
Support0/15
Adoption6/15

Scored on update freshness, WordPress compatibility, ratings, support replies and adoption. How we score →

Version: 2.1.1
Last updated: Feb 25, 2016
Added: Oct 11, 2012
Tested up to: 4.4.34
Requires PHP: —

DeveloperAndrew Norcross

Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 13, 2026

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Best YOURLS Link Creator alternatives

All custom url plugins →

Alternatives
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2	WP Custom Author URL Set a custom URL for your author name link, on a global or author-specific basis. Also… by Poodle Plugins	5K+	★★★★★★★★★★ 5 (8)	6 months ago	56
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