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

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 syndication”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 6 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

The Tribal Plugin shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 700+ 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

WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 Broadcast 1K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #15 10 too low 6 Syndication 90+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #2 ↑2 4 too high 7 Syndication Links 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 RESTful Content Syndication 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 8 too high 10 Houzez Property Feed 1K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Changelog as a Service – Publish, Display, and Communicate Beautiful Changelogs 10+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12 SmartFrame Images 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Product Reviews & Photo Reviews for WooCommerce – Yuko 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 IndieWeb 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 Micropub 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Social Integration for BlueSky 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Revive To Sky – Post old content to Bluesky 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 I IndieBlocks 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 The Tribal Plugin 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 FeedCentral Connector 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 A AgentMark 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Post Forwarder 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 NPR Content Distribution Service 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 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.