I built this small WordPress plugin because I wanted a straightforward way to track file downloads without relying on Google Analytics or heavier analytics systems like GA4.
Most analytics tools are designed for page views, funnels, and marketing dashboards — but I needed something much simpler:
👉 “Did anyone actually download this file?”
When I share plugins, tools, or ZIP files from WordPress, there’s usually no clean way to know if they’re being used unless I add external tracking systems.
I didn’t want:
• GA4 setup overhead
• third-party tracking scripts
• complicated dashboards
• or anything that slows the site down
So I built a lightweight alternative that stays inside WordPress..
This plugin adds a simple opt-in system inside the Media Library.
When enabled on a file:
• it generates a tracked download URL
• it increments a download counter on each use
• it shows the total downloads in Media Library
• it provides a copy button for the tracked link
• it includes a simple “Media Downloads” overview page
Everything stays inside WordPress admin — no external services required.
Each file in the Media Library can be enabled with a checkbox:
✔ Enable download tracking
Once enabled, WordPress generates a tracked URL like:
https://your-site.com/?ww_download=123
This link:
• records the download
• then redirects to the actual file
• works with normal WordPress media uploads
You can view download counts in two places:
• inside the Media Library list view
• under Media → Downloads (overview page)
From there, you can quickly see which files are actually being used.
This is a very lightweight way to understand:
• which plugins people download
• which resources are being used
• what content is actually useful
Without needing full analytics stacks.
A downloadable ZIP version of this plugin is available on the website.
This plugin is intended for simple tracking inside WordPress environments.
It is not designed as a full analytics platform, and I don’t provide support for modifying it for external systems or non-standard setups.
This is part of my Web Workbench system — small tools built to solve specific problems as I encounter them while building websites and plugins.
As I continue building, I’ll likely expand this with more internal tools like it.