wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “edit comment”

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 “edit comment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WP Comment Notification shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 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

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #1 2

Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #2 3

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too low 4

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

Edit Flow 4K+ · 4.2★ (50) wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #3 5 too high 9

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #11 ↑8 2 too low 10

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11

Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #6 ↑3 5 too high 12

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #24 12 too low 13

Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14

WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #21 ↑1 7 too low 15

Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #18 3 too low 16

AddQuicktag 100K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #16 ↓1 17

No Page Comment 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 18

Bulk Edit and Create User Profiles – WP Sheet Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19

Comments Like Dislike 4K+ · 4.6★ (38) wp.org #19 ↓2 20

Comments Extra Fields For Post,Pages and CPT 500+ · 4.2★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21

ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too low 22

WPBulky – WordPress Bulk Edit Post Types 400+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23

WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24

Edit Usernames 70+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #20 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.