Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “column”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

S

Ranked above its merit

Simple Menu Order Column shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 200+ 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

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #5 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #1 ↑9 1 too high 3 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too low 5 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #17 ↑1 12 too low 6 Make Section & Column Clickable For Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 Add Featured Image Column 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Featured Image Column 2K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too high 9 Equal Height Columns 10K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #14 ↓5 5 too low 10 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 Genesis Widget Column Classes 5K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #23 ↓4 11 too low 13 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #24 ↓4 11 too low 14 Multiple Columns for Gravity Forms 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too high 15 Admin Columns for ACF Fields 9K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Purchased Items Column for WooCommerce Orders 700+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #10 ↓3 6 too high 17 WPC Admin Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 8 too high 18 Users Registration Date – Sortable Users Column 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 N Ni WooCommerce Admin Order Columns 500+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Block Editor: Reverse Columns on Mobile 700+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Manage User Columns 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Dashboard Columns 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 S Simple Menu Order Column 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 10 too high 24 Column Separator for Beaver Builder 400+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓4 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.