Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “bio”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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 Box WP Lens shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 1511 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Link in Bio Creator – Social 2K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #2 ↑1 2 too high 5 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #4 ↑2 2 too high 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Spotlight Social Photo Feed 60K+ · 4.7★ (171) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #13 ↓4 4 too low 10 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #24 ↓6 13 too low 12 Team – Team Members Showcase Plugin 10K+ · 4.5★ (67) wp.org #12 ↑8 13 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too low 14 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 too low 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #8 ↑3 8 too high 17 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #17 ↑7 18 Team Members 20K+ · 4.2★ (53) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #11 ↑3 9 too high 21 Team Members Showcase 4K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #21 22 Team Builder Member Showcase 1K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Pressific Bio for LLMs.txt 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Author Bio On Hover – Author Box 40+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.