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

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 formatting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Preserve Code Formatting shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Columns places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1652 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. 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 #1 2 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #2 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #3 4 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 #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5038) wp.org #5 6 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1652) wp.org #18 ↓2 10 too low 9 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Blogger Importer Extended 4K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #12 ↑1 2 too low 11 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #20 ↑3 9 too low 12 RPS Include Content 700+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 A Advanced Excerpt 80K+ · 4.3★ (101) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #22 ↓5 8 too low 15 Heroic Table of Contents 5K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #8 ↓1 7 too high 16 Schedule Post Changes With PublishPress Future: Unpublish, Delete, Change Status, Trash, Change Categories 100K+ · 4.5★ (172) wp.org #24 ↓5 8 too low 17 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Structured Content (JSON-LD) #wpsc 30K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 Preserve Code Formatting 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 13 too high 21 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 Duplicate Post – duplicate pages, copy content, clone posts 5K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 AI Content Writer – Automatic Content Generator and Auto Poster 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.