wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comments feed”
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 feed”, 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
Turn Comments Off shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358)
wp.org #1 2 
Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040)
wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 
Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281)
wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too high 4 
Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511)
wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 
Social Feed Gallery 80K+ · 4.5★ (303)
wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 
Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Feed Them Social – Social Media Feeds, Video, and Photo Galleries 20K+ · 4.7★ (639)
wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 
Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28)
wp.org #5 3 too high 9 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 
Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25)
wp.org #4 ↑2 6 too high 11 
Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41)
wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514)
wp.org #22 10 too low 13 
Spotlight Social Photo Feed 50K+ · 4.7★ (171)
wp.org #17 ↓4 4 too low 14 
Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401)
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127)
wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 
Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68)
wp.org #15 1 too high 17 
QuadLayers TikTok Feed 7K+ · 3.9★ (61)
wp.org #10 ↑6 7 too high 18 
All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 
XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85)
wp.org #20 1 too low 20 
Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58)
wp.org #19 1 too high 21 
Inavii Social Feed – Live Social Proof Gallery 9K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews
wp.org #13 ↓1 8 too high 22 
WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51)
wp.org #18 4 too high 23 
Social Media Feed Gallery – Fetch Posts & Reels 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #23 24 Turn Comments Off 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #14 10 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.