wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “all taxonomies”

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 “all taxonomies”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

VK All in One Expansion Unit shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #2 3

Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #3 4

WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7

Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #12 4 too low 9

All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 8 too low 12

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #15 ↑9 2 too low 14

Attachment Taxonomies 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #7 7 too high 15

Select All Categories and Taxonomies, Change Checkbox to Radio Buttons 3K+ · 4.3★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #6 9 too high 16

F4 Media Taxonomies 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #11 5 too high 17

Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19

List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20

Taxonomy Switcher 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 W WP Required Taxonomies – Categories and Tags Mandatory 1K+ · 4.1★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #8 13 too high 22

MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23

WP All Import – Import Add-On for ACF 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24

VK All in One Expansion Unit 100K+ · 4.0★ (7) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #9 15 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.