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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “curating”

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 “curating”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 2 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

Rank Savant shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #1 2 Automatic YouTube Gallery – Embed Auto-Updating YouTube Video Galleries, Feeds, Playlists & Channels 9K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #2 3 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Juicer.io: Effortlessly embed, curate, and aggregate social media feeds into your website 8K+ · 4.2★ (29) wp.org #4 5 WP Event Aggregator: Import Eventbrite events, Meetup events, social events and any iCal Events into Event Calendar 1K+ · 4.6★ (54) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Simple Business Directory – AI Powered 300+ · 4.9★ (62) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 PressForward 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Auto podcast import 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Fonts Typo | Fonts Typography 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Pattern Wrangler – Manage Block Patterns and Pattern Categories 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too high 13 EDH Recent Category Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Primo List — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 X3P0: Media Data — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 OxyLeaf – Working and Relaxing App (SaaS ready) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Star Collector Review Widgets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Stream Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 BMLT Minutes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Daily Bible Verse 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 LH Nominate This — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Sophi 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 J JS Widgets 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Rank Savant 20+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.