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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “affiliate boxes”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “affiliate boxes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Affiliate Reviews shows at wp.org #6 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits places #10 on merit, 4.5★ from 212 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #1 2 AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #2 3 Flipbox – Awesomes Flip Boxes Image Overlay 9K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 SureCart – Ecommerce Made Easy For Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Subscriptions, Donations, & Payments 80K+ · 4.8★ (288) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Master Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Widgets, Mega Menu Builder, Popup Builder, Widget Builder & Template Kits 30K+ · 4.5★ (212) wp.org #24 ↓1 14 too low 11 Affiliate Amazon Shortcode 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Responsive Blocks – Page Builder for Blocks & Patterns 3K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 RioVizual — Table Blocks for Comparison, Pricing and Pros & Cons 1K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Coupon Plugin Lite 300+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Affiliate Reviews 300+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 PaapiPlugin – Amazon Affiliate Product Boxes, Tables and Search 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too high 18 Doozly Affiliate Box for Amazon 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Couprix 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 20 MrSeokar Inline Related Products for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 7 too high 22 Affiliate AI Lite 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Manila Stack Affiliate Boxes for Southeast Asia — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 Affiliate Product Boxes — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.