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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “alias”

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 “alias”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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

Convert WPBakery to Elementor shows at wp.org #16 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 154 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Domain Mapping System | Create Microsites with Multiple Alias Domains (multisite optional) 2K+ · 4.5★ (56) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 W Widget Alias 200+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 WPO365 | MICROSOFT 365 GRAPH MAILER 10K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Gravity Forms CLI Add-On 20K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Lord of the Files: Enhanced Upload Security 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Currency Converter Widget 2K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 OpenPorte Spam Protection 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑13 2 too high 12 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Multisite Blog Alias — · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too low 14 Werk aan de Muur 900+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓3 1 too high 15 Clearout Email Validator – Real-Time Email Verification on WordPress Forms 500+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #24 ↓6 9 too low 16 Nexi XPay 7K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too high 17 Simple Tiered Pricing Table for WooCommerce 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑2 4 too low 18 Spotrebiteľské práva pre WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓5 1 too low 19 LegalBlink 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too high 20 Jooosi Icon – Modern SVG icon library for WordPress 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓3 3 too low 21 Easy IP Blocker 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 FAQ Schema Shortcode 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Convert WPBakery to Elementor 500+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 GovernDocs Document Management – Agenda, Minutes, Meetings, Reports & more 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.