Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 link”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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

VK Link Target Controller shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 30K+ 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

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #23 ↓1 13 too low 11 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #11 12 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #8 4 too high 13 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #21 ↑2 6 too low 16 Display Post Types – Post Grid, post list and post sliders 8K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Swap Google Fonts Display: Improve Font Rendering & Performance 10K+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #20 ↑2 2 too high 23 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 12 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.