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← Rankings

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

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 website”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Author Website Templates – Create Writer, Author & Publisher Websites Easily shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 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 #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 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 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #2 3 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #3 4 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #5 6 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #18 10 too low 9 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #22 ↓1 12 too low 11 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 400K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Visual Composer Website Builder 30K+ · 4.6★ (220) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Osom Author Pro 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Page Builder: Pagelayer – Drag and Drop website builder 400K+ · 3.9★ (104) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 About Author 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Default Post Author 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Easy Author Avatar Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Author Website Templates – Create Writer, Author & Publisher Websites Easily 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.