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

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 tables”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Heroic Table of Contents shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1138 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #1 2

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #2 ↑1 3

Ninja Tables – Easy Data Table Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #3 ↓1 4

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #4 5

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #8 ↑3 1 too low 8

Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #7 ↑11 1 too high 9

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #17 ↓2 8 too low 10

Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #12 ↑5 1 too low 12

Content Control – The Ultimate Content Restriction Solution! Restrict Content, Create Conditional Blocks & More 40K+ · 4.9★ (575) wp.org #18 6 too low 13

Pricing Table WordPress Plugin – Easy Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too high 14

Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15

WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17

Table Field Add-on for ACF and SCF 50K+ · 4.9★ (60) wp.org #19 2 too low 18

WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #23 5 too low 19

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20

Heroic Table of Contents 5K+ · 4.7★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↓1 10 too high 21

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22

Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓7 8 too high 23

Table Of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 10 too high 24

Table Of Content Block – Auto-Generate Clickable Table of Contents 3K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.