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

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 permalink”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Custom Permalink Editor shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #10 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #1 2 Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 پارسی دیت – Parsi Date 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132) wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 AutoConvert Greeklish Permalinks 40K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too low 15 C Custom Upload Dir 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 WP Better Permalinks 1K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 C Custom Post Type Widgets 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Custom Permalink Editor 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 E Enhanced Custom Permalinks 1K+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 E External Permalinks Redux 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 P PTAPS – Post Type Archive Pages and Permalink Settings 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 C Custom Post Type Rewrite 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓3 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.