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← Rankings

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

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 “chapters”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Able Player, accessible HTML5 media player shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 279 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 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #1 2 Presto Player 100K+ · 4.8★ (346) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #9 ↑6 5 too low 5 MPL-Publisher — Ebook & Audiobook Creator 700+ · 4.9★ (46) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 PowerPress Podcasting plugin by Blubrry 20K+ · 4.6★ (231) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Toocheke Companion 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Podlove Podcast Publisher 3K+ · 4.3★ (45) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 Logos Reftagger 10K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Floating Social Share Icons and Social Share buttons – Next Previous Post Links – FL 200+ · 4.7★ (73) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Bradmax Player 1K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Issues and Series for Newspapers, Magazines, Publishers, Writers 2K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #23 ↓2 6 too low 18 VdoCipher: Secure Video Player and Hosting 2K+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Able Player, accessible HTML5 media player 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 eBook Crafter – Convert Posts to PDF eBooks, Ready to Print 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Drip for Gravity Forms 500+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 FICTBASE 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too high 23 Dashboard for Pressbooks and H5P 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 FV Player 8 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 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.