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

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 “bibliography”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

TheLaTeXLab – Citations & Bibliography shows at wp.org #2 but places #7 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ 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.

M

Buried gem

Mammoth .docx converter places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 62 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Zotpress 2K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 teachPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 M Mammoth .docx converter 20K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #23 ↓3 17 too low 7 TheLaTeXLab – Citations & Bibliography 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Easy GPT for WP | AI Content Generator 40+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too low 9 JReferences 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Borges Bibliography Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Scholar Publications Fetcher 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 DiFlowRin Bibliography Checker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Citations 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 CitePress – Automatic Citation Generator 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 R Researcher Profiles for ORCID 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Citrus 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Scholar Sync – Academic Publications & Researcher Profiles 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 Display your Zenodo Publications 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 Academic Publications Showcase 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too high 20 P Publications List Display for Zotero — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Tomevexa Book Catalog di Francesco La Mancusa — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 Sunray Author Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 WebKew WP References and Citations 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 2 too high 24 A.N.R.GHG Publishing Toolkit 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 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.