wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “display code”

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 “display code”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

VK Post Author Display shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 256 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 signals wp.org

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #1 2

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #2 3

Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #3 4

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #4 5

Insert PHP Code Snippet 90K+ · 4.9★ (707) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6

Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7

Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8

Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9

Kaya QR Code Generator 10K+ · 4.4★ (38) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10

UPI QR Code Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #18 ↓6 8 too low 11

Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12

Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #14 ↑5 2 too low 13

Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #13 ↑1 14

Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Highlighting Code Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too high 17

Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18

Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19

Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20

Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21

Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

QR Code Composer – Automatic QR code generation 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews 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.