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

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 name”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

D

Ranked above its merit

Display HTML Sitemap shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 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 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 Smart Custom Display Name 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Force First and Last Name as Display Name 2K+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 Variation Price Display Range for WooCommerce 9K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 W WP Display Header 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Meta Field Block – Display Custom Fields for ACF, Meta Box and More 10K+ · 5.0★ (57) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Username Changer 40K+ · 4.3★ (77) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 ↑2 3 too low 10 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too low 11 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #21 ↓4 8 too low 14 Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 Bangla Date Display 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #8 ↓3 8 too high 17 Product Open Pricing (Name Your Price) for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.1★ (19) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too high 18 Magical Posts Display – Elementor Advanced Posts widgets 3K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 E Easy Username Updater 10K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #16 ↑3 4 too high 21 Magical Shop Builder – WooCommerce Template Builder for Elementor | Shop, Cart, Checkout & Product Page Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 D Display HTML Sitemap 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 too high 24 Display Environment Type 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 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.