In reply to mhannigan.

Interesting theory but 'm not even sure how you would "Game" the plugin repo numbers.

The current downloads number is representative of our total installs from the repo plus updates (the repo counts updates as downloads). The numbers are actually more than double what you see if you include our active installs that were not done through the repo. So as far as testing goes, the plugin has been through the ringer and back.

*Side note: Matt mentioned during the State of the Word '14 that more detailed stats were coming soon. Until we see these more detailed stats, we consider them more vanity metrics and we don't really concern ourselves with them.*

How did we get so many installs so quickly?

We were very lucky to have the opportunity to have SIDEKICK pre-installed with some very large hosting providers off the bat and now Go Daddy. Some of these providers pull the plugin directly from the repo at install so our stats shot up quite fast.

As far as a deal that was made; you're right, there was. The deal was and is that all Go Daddy and Media Temple customers would receive a free SIDEKICK Premium subscription for as long as they host with GD or MT. That's it.

Ultimate goal = Adding additional value and helping users get things done faster and easier.

I empathize with how it might be easier and more interesting to believe there's more to the story but that's it.

Happy New Year