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

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 “attachment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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.

D

Ranked above its merit

Disable Attachment Pages shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 851 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Product Attachment for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #1 2 Download Attachments 8K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #2 3 A Attachment Pages Redirect 10K+ · 4.9★ (47) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 A Attachments 8K+ · 4.8★ (53) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #13 ↑3 7 too low 7 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #12 ↑3 5 too low 8 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #15 ↑8 7 too low 9 Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #18 ↑3 9 too low 10 Attachment Taxonomies 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 Autoremove Attachments 3K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too low 14 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #20 ↓6 3 too low 18 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 Notification Attachments for Gravity Forms 2K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 D Disable Attachment Pages 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 Associate Attachment 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Attachment Download On Gravity Form Submission 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 Auto Attachments Cleaner 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24

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.