Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “disclosure”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Disclaimify – Affiliate Disclosure / Disclaimer for WordPress shows at wp.org #2 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Download Manager places #9 on merit, 4.1★ from 1006 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too low 2 WooCommerce PayPal Payments 800K+ · 2.9★ (583) wp.org #1 ↑2 1 too high 3 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #5 ↑7 2 too low 4 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #8 ↑6 4 too low 5 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↑5 1 too low 6 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #7 ↓3 8 Imsanity 200K+ · 4.9★ (291) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #15 ↑4 6 too low 10 Force Regenerate Thumbnails 200K+ · 4.7★ (186) wp.org #13 ↓4 3 too low 11 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #16 ↓8 5 too low 12 Invisible reCaptcha 70K+ · 4.3★ (133) wp.org #12 13 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #11 ↓5 2 too high 14 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #14 15 WP Customer Area 10K+ · 4.0★ (89) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 API KEY for Google Maps 30K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17 Disclaimify – Affiliate Disclosure / Disclaimer for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 ↓1 15 too high 18 WP Affiliate Disclosure 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑2 15 too high 19 Kadence Starter Templates — Predesigned Website Templates 200K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 AI Alt Text Generator 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓7 2 too low 21 AyeCode Connect 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too high 22 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Security.txt Manager 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 Compromise Scanner for wp2shell 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.