Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “blank”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Blank shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 800+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Blank Slate 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too low 4 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Super Blank 9K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #11 ↑5 5 too low 7 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #13 ↑10 6 too low 8 Quiz and Survey Master (QSM) – Quiz Maker & Survey Maker 40K+ · 4.7★ (1282) wp.org #15 ↑6 7 too low 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Blank Footnotes 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 ↓1 7 too high 12 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14 Simple Share Buttons Adder 40K+ · 4.3★ (627) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 Target Blank to Button Block 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Pluginception 4K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 WPC Name Your Price for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 Blank 800+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Table for Divi 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓6 24 Remove Blank P Tag 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓7 4 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.