Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “delete attachments”

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 “delete attachments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Delete Unscaled Images shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 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 Bulk Delete 30K+ · 4.3★ (129) wp.org #1 2 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 Autoremove Attachments 3K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 A Attachments 8K+ · 4.8★ (53) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #10 ↓2 4 too low 7 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too high 8 DX Delete Attached Media 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #18 ↓2 8 too low 11 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #17 ↓2 6 too low 12 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18 Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too high 19 Delete Unscaled Images 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20 Auto Attachments Cleaner 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 SiteEase Bulk Delete Manager 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Auto Post Cleaner 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Canonical Attachments 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.