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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “archive label”

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 “archive label”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 3 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

Hide Archive Label shows at wp.org #1 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Woo Labels – Product Labels & Badges for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (64) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #7 5 too low 3 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too low 4 JS Archive List 3K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #10 ↑2 5 too low 6 Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer 1K+ · 3.8★ (8) wp.org #2 ↑2 4 too high 7 Archive Content with Archived Post Status 5K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too low 8 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Social Chat – Click To Chat App Button 200K+ · 4.9★ (696) wp.org #17 ↑1 8 too low 10 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Custom Price Labels for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #20 ↑1 8 too low 13 Archive Title 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓2 9 too high 14 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 Hide Archive Label 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 14 too high 16 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Product Badge, Label, Countdown Timer for WooCommerce – Sale Booster 5K+ · 4.8★ (30) wp.org #12 ↓3 7 too high 20 Custom Add to Cart Button Label and Link for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Custom Add to Cart labels for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓2 8 too high 22 NGD Custom Add to Cart Label for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Product Labels, Quick View, Buy Now, Pre-Orders, Frequently Bought Together & More for WooCommerce – Merchant 9K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓4 24 P PTAPS – Post Type Archive Pages and Permalink Settings 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 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.