Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “data import”

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 “data import”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Advanced Import shows at wp.org #5 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 80K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #1 2 WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 One Click Demo Import 1M+ · 4.3★ (79) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Customizer Export/Import 100K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #17 10 too low 8 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #16 ↓2 7 too low 10 WP All Import – Product Import for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (276) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 WP Import Export Lite 40K+ · 4.0★ (113) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Data Tables Generator by Supsystic – Excel-like, WooCommerce & Pricing Tables 10K+ · 4.7★ (497) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 Advanced Import 80K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #5 ↓1 10 too high 16 WP All Import – Import Add-On for ACF 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 Import Users from CSV 10K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too high 18 Comments Import & Export 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Import Social Events 3K+ · 4.8★ (116) wp.org #23 ↑1 4 too low 20 Simple Export Import for ACF Data 1K+ · 3.4★ (16) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Yoast SEO 20K+ · 2.8★ (11) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 WP All Import – Job Listing Import for WP Job Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for All In One SEO 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 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.