Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

VK Link Target Controller shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 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

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 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 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #3 4 Gravity Forms – Edit Entries 2K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Bulky – Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #6 7 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151) wp.org #8 9 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #18 ↓2 8 too low 11 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #23 ↓1 12 too low 12 Simple Link Directory – AI Powered 2K+ · 4.8★ (121) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #20 ↓1 7 too low 14 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16 Slash Edit: Admin Shortcuts to Edit Posts and Pages Faster 500+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Link Checker 4K+ · 3.2★ (30) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 VK Link Target Controller 30K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Admin Previous and Next Order Edit Links for Woocommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Bulk Menu Edit 700+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 Edit Post Link 70+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #13 11 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.