wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comments authorship”

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 “comments authorship”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Delete Own Admin Account shows at wp.org #7 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Import and export users and customers places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 259 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #1 2

Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Social Sharing Plugin – Social Warfare 10K+ · 3.3★ (186) stale but ranked wp.org #6 2 too low 5

Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #16 ↓2 11 too low 6

Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #18 ↓2 11 too low 8

Sectorize – Custom Author Archives & Collective Authorship — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 3 too high 9

Selfish Fresh Start 20+ · 4.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #9 10

Post Kinds 100+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓2 11 too low 11

Delete Own Admin Account 60+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 4 too high 12

MountDev AI MCP Connector for WordPress 200+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 4 too high 13

AI Content Rinse: Text & Metadata Cleaner — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 3 too high 14

Dropndot AI Content Checker — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Joshternet — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16

Kitestring Analytics for Umami — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 3 too high 17

Supan SEO – AI SEO Score, FAQ Schema & llms.txt — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18

IF Media AOE — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too high 19

Mivídeo Geo Audit Content — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too high 20

PublisherKits BioBuilder — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21

SmartCloud Agent Composer — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22

CONCILIUM IA Rank GEO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #22 ↓2 23

Squadeno – Club Sports Manager 40+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 24

Spellmatic — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓2

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.