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← Rankings

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

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 tab”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 7 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

Floating Side Tab shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #5 6 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #9 ↑2 10 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Timed Content 5K+ · 4.6★ (41) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 Cookies and Content Security Policy 10K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Gutena Tabs 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 WPB Custom Tab Manager for WooCommerce – Add, Edit & Reorder Tabs 500+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 YITH WooCommerce Tab Manager 3K+ · 3.0★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 5 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.