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

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 “curation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

CM Curated List Manager – Effortless tool for link management shows at wp.org #9 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 70+ 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

SEO Booster places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 54 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 #1 2 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #2 3 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #3 4 Revive Social – Social Media Auto Post and Scheduling Automation Plugin 20K+ · 4.0★ (556) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WP Post Redirect 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Juicer.io: Effortlessly embed, curate, and aggregate social media feeds into your website 8K+ · 4.2★ (29) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Z Zone Manager (Zoninator) 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 PressForward 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Contextly Recommends 100+ · 3.8★ (23) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 KBucket: Your Curated Content in WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 AJ Agent Crawl Optimizer – AI Readiness Scanner & llms.txt for WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 CM Curated List Manager – Effortless tool for link management 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17 16Deza Block Curator 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 iWEBAPP Review Widget for Google Reviews 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 ImageSnippets Gallery Block 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 Sitewise 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Juicer.io: The Best Social Photo Feed – Posts, Reels, Stories and more 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↑1 2 too low 22 TheReader.AI – Automated News Feeds, AI Content & SEO Booster — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 RsCards Maker – Greeting Cards, E-Cards, Christmas Cards & Holiday Wishes 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Grow for WordPress 10K+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.