[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #6511: Bring back the active install growth chart

[Making WordPress.org]

#6511: Bring back the active install growth chart
------------------------------+---------------------
 Reporter:  markzahra         |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  new
 Priority:  high              |   Milestone:
Component:  Plugin Directory  |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                    |
------------------------------+---------------------

Comment (by alh0319):

 Posting after having time to think about
 [https://wpwatercooler.com/wpwatercooler/ep432-solutions-to-the-active-
 growth-problem/ Otto's comments on WP Watercooler], specifically that this
 thread is being monitored for ideas for future charts that are being
 discussed in private Slack channels or DMs.

 **I cannot emphasize enough** that conversations about what to replace the
 active growth chart with should be happening in a public Slack channel or
 on a Trac ticket. This data should belong to the community and the
 community should be able to participate in deciding how (or not) to
 display it.

 For my part - if feedback here is truely being considered - this is what I
 need to see:

 **As near to accurate as possible active install counts by day.** It
 doesn't have to be a chart as long as I have the ability to create a
 chart. A table or API endpoint would be fine. The data should be available
 for the past 6 months at a minimum.

 We need this data to know if we're making the right choices both in our
 development efforts and also our marketing. Having a data point that is
 only updated monthly would not be sufficient because it would be more
 challenging to draw connections between marketing campaigns and install
 growth.

 On that note, if we're talking "wishlist" for data, I'd also like to
 know...

 Things that tell us if our readme and other ranking factors are on track:
 - Number of searches (or impressions) for target keywords
 - Average ranking for target keywords for timeframe (month)
 - Conversion rates from impression to install for target keywords

 Things that tell us if we may have a problem with our plugin:
 - Number of deactivations per timeframe (month, preferably week)
 - Number of deletions per timeframe (month, preferably week)
 - Average time from activation to deactivation or deletion

 Things for better testing of releases:
 - Top 20 plugins also active
 - Top 20 themes also active
 - PHP versions (percentage)
 - WordPress versions (percentage)


 I'd be fine if this was opt-in. There are several plugins that we have on
 the repo that I could care less about any of this data, and I have never
 looked at the active install growth when it was present.

 I think it would be better if all of this was public data, but if it had
 to be made available to plugin devs only, that would be fine.

 If the active install growth chart isn't coming back, fine. But let's
 replace it with something better and quickly.

 @matt tweeted that
 [https://twitter.com/photomatt/status/1578105641180094464 hosts can query
 this data] but that doesn't really help small independent plugin
 developers and it puts us at a disadvantage against plugins owned by
 hosting companies. We need to level the playing field and make this data
 available to everyone.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/6511#comment:105>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org