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

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

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

16Deza Block Curator shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple Link Directory – AI Powered places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 121 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 LLMs.txt Curator 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Curator.io 2K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 AI Infographic Maker 600+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 iChart – Easy Charts and Graphs 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 16Deza Block Curator 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 HappyVR – Virtual Tour Builder & 360 Panorama Viewer 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Baer Media Curator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 RSS Content Curator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 12 Curator AI — SEO & Site Care — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 ArtistKit 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Hero Posts Lite 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 QC SEO Help for llms.txt, AI Analytics, AI Content Writer, FAQ Generator, Subtitle to Article 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 C Community Radio Jukebox — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 Indie Music Bus Artist Support for Bandcamp — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Scope Publisher 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 DecaCrew — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Simple Video Directory 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Blogibot – Smart AI for SEO-Ready Blog Creation & Feed Management — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Sophi 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Curator Studio – YouTube – Show videos from channels, playlists and more 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 PageManager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.