wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “configurations table”

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 “configurations table”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

Table for Divi shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Columns places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1652 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Flexible Table Block 40K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #1 2

Product Table for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (295) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3

Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #5 ↓3 2 too low 4

Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #4 ↑2 5

Weight Based Shipping Table Rate for WooCommerce – Flexible Shipping 100K+ · 4.9★ (706) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too low 6

WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) heavy footprint wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10

TableKit – WordPress Table Builder for Data Tables, WooCommerce Product Tables & Post Tables 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #2 ↑1 8 too high 11

Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #20 ↓5 9 too low 12

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #17 ↓3 5 too low 13

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14

FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #14 ↓1 15

Pricing Table WordPress Plugin – Easy Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too high 16

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #23 ↓3 6 too low 18

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #21 ↓5 3 too low 19

Visualizer – Tables & Charts Manager with Built-in AI Generator 20K+ · 4.4★ (225) not PHP-current wp.org #13 ↓4 6 too high 20

WowShipping – Table Rate & Weight Based Shipping 700+ · 5.0★ (25) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #10 10 too high 21

Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #19 2 too high 22

Table for Divi 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↓1 16 too high 23

Order List Table Elementor Widget for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.0★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 8 too high 24

Tablentor – Smart Table Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24 ↓1

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.