Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 schema”, 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

BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website shows at wp.org #3 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 900+ 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

Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 729 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #2 3 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Schema – All In One Schema Rich Snippets 30K+ · 4.0★ (162) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Schema 30K+ · 4.3★ (221) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags 4K+ · 4.6★ (306) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too high 11 Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) wp.org #22 ↑2 11 too low 12 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 W WP Meta and Date Remover 80K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too low 15 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑1 12 too high 16 WordLift – AI powered SEO – Schema 300+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too high 18 RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 500+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19 Schema Blocks 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑2 6 too high 20 Tasty Recipes Lite – WordPress Recipe Card Plugin with Built-In Recipe Schema 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑3 6 too high 21 WPGraphQL Yoast SEO Addon 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Author Box & Pages for E-E-A-T Optimization 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too high 23 Cite This Article – Author Box & Citation 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too high 24 Author Bio On Hover – Author Box 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.