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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “classic editor”

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 “classic editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Advanced Classic Editor shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Disable Gutenberg places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 735 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #1 2 Classic Editor + 30K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 C Classic Widgets 2M+ · 4.9★ (272) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #9 ↑4 4 too low 6 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #6 ↑5 3 too high 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #12 ↓4 2 too low 11 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑1 8 too high 12 No Gutenberg? – Choose Where to Use the Block Editor or the Classic Editor 9K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too low 14 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1915) wp.org #21 ↓2 7 too low 15 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Classic Visual Editor Options 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Enable Classic Editor & Widgets 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #11 ↓2 11 too high 23 TCD Classic Editor 6K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 Duplicate Page or Post, Delete Revisions and Enable Classic Editor 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.