External Permalinks Redux

by Erick Hitter

View on WordPress.org

71 Quality Score

Active Installs

15/30

With about 2,000 active installs, adoption is modest, suggesting a niche audience rather than mainstream demand.

Update Freshness

22/25

The plugin was updated in January 2026 and is tested against WordPress 6.9.4, which is about as current as you can get.

User Rating

12/15

Four ratings producing a perfect 100 is a small sample, so the score is encouraging but not statistically reliable.

Support Health

8/15

There are zero support threads and zero resolutions on record, which makes it impossible to gauge how responsive the author is when problems arise.

WP Compatibility

15/15

Compatibility scores full marks, with a low WordPress 3.0 requirement and PHP 5.2 minimum that lets it run on nearly any host.

Scores higher than 25% of indexed plugins

About

Allows you to point WordPress objects (posts, pages, custom post types) to a URL of your choosing.

Active Installs 2k+

Rating ★★★★★ 5/5

Last Updated 2026-01-16 2:15am GMT

Requires WordPress 3.0+

Tested Up To 6.9.7

Requires PHP 5.2+

✓ No known vulnerabilities

What It Does

External Permalinks Redux lets you override the default WordPress permalink for any post, page, or custom post type with an external URL of your choosing. When a visitor clicks the post title or permalink, they are sent to that external address instead of an internal page. It is a lightweight utility plugin aimed at sites that treat WordPress as a database of outbound links rather than a traditional publishing platform.

Who It's For

This plugin is a fit for site owners who curate lists of third-party resources, run affiliate link hubs, or build external link directories powered by WordPress content types. It also suits marketers who want to manage outbound campaigns through the standard post editor without touching theme files or .htaccess rules.

Who Should Skip It

If you simply need 301 redirects for old URLs or want to catch broken outbound links, you do not need this plugin; use Redirection or Broken Link Checker instead. Anyone running a content-heavy blog where nearly every page points to internal content will get no value from overriding permalinks externally.

The Bottom Line

External Permalinks Redux does one focused thing and does it well, with strong maintenance signals and broad compatibility, but its tiny install base and zero support history mean you are placing real trust in a largely unproven maintainer. The 74.28 quality score reflects that trade-off. Recommend it for niche use cases, with the caveat that you should test it on a staging site first.

Related Plugins

All in One SEO 98/100

Pick AIOSEO when search engine optimization is the goal and external link overrides are only a side concern.

Broken Link Checker 91/100

Choose this when you mostly need to find and fix dead outbound links rather than repoint entire posts.

Redirection 89/100

Go with Redirection if your real need is server-level 301 and 302 redirect management.

301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 86/100

Pick this when you want a friendly UI for bulk URL redirects instead of per-post external overrides.

Custom Post Type Permalinks

Choose it for restructuring internal custom post type URLs rather than pointing posts at external URLs.