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

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 “anchor”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Add Anchor Links shows at wp.org #4 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Anchor Block 2K+ · 4.1★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too low 7 Sticky Header Effects for Elementor 300K+ · 4.5★ (69) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Anchor Episodes Index (Spotify for Podcasters) 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑2 5 too high 9 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 Add Anchor Links 1K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #4 ↓2 8 too high 13 WP Anchor Header 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓1 8 too high 14 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #16 ↓7 2 too low 15 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too low 17 MJDD Sidrena Cijena 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 Hyperlink Group Block 7K+ · 4.3★ (14) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓4 5 too low 20 Button Block – Stylish buttons that get more clicks 5K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 Addon Elementor Container Link 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 22 Easy Google AdSense 5K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓4 2 too high 23 Copy Link to Heading – Easily add Anchor links for Headings 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too high 24 Email Address Obfuscation 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓4 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.