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← Rankings

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

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 “bitly”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

utm.codes shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 1053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Blog2Social: Social Media Auto Post & Scheduler 40K+ · 4.5★ (2107) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Bitly URL Shortener 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags 4K+ · 4.6★ (306) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Bitly's WordPress Plugin 2K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 WSMS (formerly WP SMS): SMS and OTP for WordPress and WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.1★ (107) wp.org #6 7 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 too low 9 Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1053) wp.org #22 ↓3 13 too low 10 URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Newsletters 2K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too low 12 Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #18 ↓6 5 too low 14 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #7 ↑2 7 too high 15 Social Snap — Social Share Buttons & Click to Tweet 10K+ · 4.2★ (58) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare 10K+ · 3.3★ (186) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 NotifSMS – SMS Notifications OTP & 2FA for WordPress & WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.4★ (18) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 utm.codes 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Dashdig — Humanize and Shortenize URLs — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 WP Associate Post R2 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 A All In One Link Shortener — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 Magic Link – Secure one click passwordless login 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too low 23 Sunshine UTM Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Social Linkz – Lightweight and fast social media sharing plugin 90+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.