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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “author name”

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 “author name”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Smart Custom Display Name shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #1 2 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #2 3 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 ↓1 14 too low 7 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #23 ↓1 16 too low 8 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 ↓1 10 too low 10 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #21 ↓1 10 too low 12 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 WP Custom Author URL 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 Osom Author Pro 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 D Disable Author Archives 10K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Co-Authors Plus 20K+ · 3.5★ (77) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 About Author 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Hide Author Archive 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.