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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom 404”

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 “custom 404”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 4K+ 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

Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 8869 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #1 2 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #18 ↑3 7 too low 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too low 14 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #20 ↓4 5 too low 16 WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post 30K+ · 4.9★ (113) wp.org #22 ↓3 6 too low 17 301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Teydea Login Customizer – Custom Login Page, Branding & Styling 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #21 22 Custom 404 Error Page 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Page as 404 30+ · 5.0★ (5) 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.