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← Rankings

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

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 summary”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 3 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

Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.9★ average from 56 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Post Views Counter places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1237 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #1 2 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 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 #9 2 too low 8 SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #10 ↑9 2 too low 9 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1237) wp.org #22 13 too low 10 Nelio Content – Editorial Calendar & Social Media Auto-Posting 3K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #18 ↓3 7 too low 12 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #12 ↑2 13 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #24 ↓3 10 too low 15 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Share Buttons & AI-powered Summaries 1K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #17 18 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too low 20 Interactive Content – H5P 40K+ · 4.8★ (61) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Dynamic Widget Content 300+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 Content Censor 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 Content Unpublisher 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Summary box for Wikipedia links 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.