Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “authorship”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

W

Ranked above its merit

WP Google Authorship shows at wp.org #2 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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

Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare places #4 on merit, 3.3★ from 186 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #1 2 Starbox – the Author Box for Humans 10K+ · 4.5★ (203) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too low 3 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #3 4 Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare 10K+ · 3.3★ (186) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 Index WP Users For Speed 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Post Export Import with Media 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 SrbTransLatin – Serbian Latinisation 2K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #17 ↓1 10 too low 8 Opace AI Scribe: SEO Content Creator & Humanizer for OpenAI, Anthropic & Gemini 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Change WooCommerce Product Author – Transfer Ownership of WooCommerce Products 200+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 W WP Google Authorship 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 O Overwrite Author Name 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 AEOmatic – AEO for AI Search: llms.txt, Schema & AI Crawler Check 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Niquelao Image Optimizer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Sectorize – Custom Author Archives & Collective Authorship — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 Delete Own Admin Account 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Bender – Mosaic Image Protection — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Hummint Badge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Monprez Schema Identity — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Holmes, the AI Visibility Detective — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 ContentTrace — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 PressPilot Frontend Editor for Avada — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Opace AI Content Checker & Detector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 wAnswers – SEO-First Q&A 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 EEAT WP 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓4

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.