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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “blog sync”

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 “blog sync”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Automatic Gallery And Featured Image Sync shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 70+ 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.

Buried gem

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 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 Photo Engine (Media Organizer & Lightroom) 2K+ · 4.9★ (210) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 WP Multisite User Sync/Unsync 600+ · 4.2★ (18) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Kadence Central – Site Management, Backups, Security, and Reporting 30K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #22 ↑2 13 too low 10 WC Shop Sync – Square Payment Gateway and Product Synchronization for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.5★ (42) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Broadcast 1K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #20 ↑2 9 too low 12 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Vimeotheque – Vimeo WordPress Plugin & Video Gallery 2K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #21 ↑2 7 too low 15 Blog Importer for HubSpot 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 WP Data Sync 100+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 Launchmind Blog 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Volteruno – AI Blog Auto-Publish 70+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 500+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 DiluxOne Multisite User Sync 10+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Sync Content From Notion 40+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Automatic Gallery And Featured Image Sync 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Pinecast WordPress Sync 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Outrank 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 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.