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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comment markdown”

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 “comment markdown”, we and wp.org disagree 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

Markdown Comment shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10+ 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

Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 65 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Markup Markdown 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 4 WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #4 ↑6 1 too high 6 Enlighter – Customizable Syntax Highlighter 10K+ · 4.8★ (65) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #9 ↓3 10 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 ElasticPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 JumpsuitAI – llms.txt + Markdown Endpoints 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 7 too high 13 ReplyBox – Better WordPress Comments 60+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 LLMagnet – AI Visibility & AI SEO for Claude, ChatGPT & More 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 DocxToPost – Import Word (DOCX) & Markdown to Posts, Pages & Custom Post Types 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 17 ERA Markdown Importer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Q QH Markdown Exporter 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19 Markdown Comment 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 13 too high 20 Odyssey LLMS 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Berq Markdown: Markdown Pages for AI & LLM Crawlers 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Markdown Comment Block 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Umay AI Markdown 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Copy as Markdown Button – Download Markdown — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 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.