wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “dummy text”

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 “dummy text”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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.

Ranked above its merit

Lorem Ipsum – Block Editor Dummy Text Autocomplete shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 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

FakerPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (205) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too low 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #7 5 too low 3

Two Factor 100K+ · 4.7★ (209) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4

Copy Anything to Clipboard for WordPress – Copy Button, Copy Text & Copy Code 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #4 ↑1 5

Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6

WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #18 ↓4 11 too low 8

Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #15 ↓5 7 too low 9

Dummy Text Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #1 8 too high 10

Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 ↑4 3 too low 11

WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #16 ↑2 5 too low 12

Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #14 ↑4 2 too low 13

Text Case Converter 300+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #2 11 too high 14

Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15

Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too low 16 E Enhanced Text Widget 30K+ · 4.9★ (50) closure risk wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17

Fullwidth Templates for Any Theme & Page Builder 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18

Breadcrumbs Divi Module 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19

Read Meter – Reading Time & Progress Bar 10K+ · 4.5★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #22 3 too low 20

Lorem Ipsum – Block Editor Dummy Text Autocomplete 100+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #3 17 too high 21

ShortCut and Dummy Text Generator – build block layouts in seconds 50+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↑4 13 too high 23

Branded Social Images – Open Graph Images with logo and extra text layer 900+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓1 24

Content Forge – AI & non-AI content generator, scheduled AI posts, dummy data for your site 60+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.