Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “auto excerpt”

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 “auto excerpt”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Read More Excerpt Link shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #9 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP LinkedIn Auto Publish 8K+ · 4.8★ (106) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #3 4 Social Media Auto Publish 5K+ · 4.7★ (345) wp.org #4 5 SchedulePress – Auto Post & Publish, Auto Social Share, Schedule Posts with Editorial Calendar & Missed Schedule Post Publisher 10K+ · 4.6★ (201) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too low 7 WP to LinkedIn Auto Publish 900+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Better Find and Replace – AI-Powered Suggestions 40K+ · 4.6★ (171) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17 Read More Excerpt Link 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Bit Social – Social Media Auto Poster and Scheduler 6K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Easy Custom Auto Excerpt 6K+ · 4.5★ (151) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Hootsuite 200+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WP Tumblr Auto Publish 60+ · 3.2★ (9) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 ClearPost – AI Auto Blogging & SEO Agent 80+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.