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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content checker”

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 “content checker”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 5 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

Unused Media Checker shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ 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

Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 1221 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. 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 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Equalize Digital Accessibility Checker – WCAG, ADA, EAA and Section 508 compliance 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Content Visibility for Divi Builder 2K+ · 4.8★ (101) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Fonts Plugin | Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts & Upload Fonts 200K+ · 5.0★ (1221) wp.org #21 14 too low 8 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Editoria11y Accessibility Checker 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Plugin Compatibility Checker 9K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ · 2.7★ (131) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 iNext Woo Pincode Checker 600+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 BD Courier Order Ratio Checker 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Integrity Checker 200+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 AI Content Generator For Elementor 200+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #20 21 Unused Media Checker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Dead Link Checker – SEO and 404 error Fix 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 Web Accessibility Toolkit – Accessibility Checker & ARIA for WCAG, Section 508 & ADA Compliance 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Email Checker for Contact Form 7 90+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.