Ship a Plugin Update Every Two Weeks to Ride the 'Recently Updated' List

Ship a Plugin Update Every Two Weeks to Ride the 'Recently Updated' List is a product-led growth tactic for getting your first users: For a marketplace like the WordPress.org plugin repo, push a release on a fixed cadence regardless of how small the change is, to keep resurfacing in the directory's recently-updated feed.

It's a strong fit for Marketplaces teams, and works especially well for Plugins, extensions, marketplace apps. As a product-led growth play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

Product-led growthMedium effortSlow

Why does product-led growth work for this?

The recently-updated feed is free recurring exposure, and consistent presence compounds into steady install growth.

The exact steps (5)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

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Sources

Works for

Frequently asked

What kind of products does the "Ship a Plugin Update Every Two Weeks to Ride the 'Recently Updated' List" tactic work for?
It is a good fit for Marketplaces — pick it when your product looks like that, since the play is shaped around how those users find new tools.
How is the "Ship a Plugin Update Every Two Weeks to Ride the 'Recently Updated' List" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

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