Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “atom feed”

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 “atom feed”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Feed Importer for Blogger shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #9 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 wp.org
1 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #1 2 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Disable Feeds WP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 XO Security 30K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #19 ↓2 10 too low 10 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #15 ↓5 5 too low 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 ↓4 1 too high 12 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #7 ↑2 5 too high 13 Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 Import XML and RSS Feeds 2K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Flow-Flow Social Streams 7K+ · 3.3★ (100) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too high 19 FlyWP Helper – Page Cache, Page Optimization, Emails for FlyWP Server Control Panel 4K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Feed Importer for Blogger 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑3 9 too high 21 Hide Author Archive 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Disable RSS, RDF, and Atom Feeds 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 RSS Retriever Lite 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓5 2 too high 24 DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.