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

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 “autolink”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

AutoLink Keywords shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 60+ 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

SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 171 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #1 2 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Postie 10K+ · 4.7★ (139) wp.org #13 ↑2 10 too low 4 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #19 15 too low 5 SEO Auto Linker 3K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Autolink Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #21 ↓1 14 too low 8 Linkable 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Link Manager – Analyze, Automate, and Monitor Links 1K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 URL Autolinker by Jerin.ca 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Pixeline’s Email Protector 900+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 B BP xProfile Location 500+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 AutoLink Keywords 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 SEOLAT Tool Plus 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 Expired Link Redirection – Temporary Link, Keyword Autolink, Page Redirect, 404 Redirect, Link Timer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Bible Verse Tooltips – Prodigal Verse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Markdown Renderer for GitHub 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Core Plus Links – Internal Link Manager & Broken Link Checker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 BeeClear Smart Link Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 NV oOS Docs Hub — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 LolaCore – AI Admin Agent 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Umay AI Markdown 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Automath Link Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.