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

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 taxonomy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Taxonomy Tags to Checkboxes shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700+ 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

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 418 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #1 2

Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #2 3

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) thin reviews wp.org #3 2 too high 6

PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #7 1 too low 7

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #19 12 too low 8

Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #17 9 too low 9

Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #20 10 too low 11

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #15 4 too low 12

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1268) wp.org #23 11 too low 13

Bulk Edit Categories and Tags – Create Thousands Quickly on the Editor 3K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #8 5 too high 14

Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #24 10 too low 15

Slash Edit: Admin Shortcuts to Edit Posts and Pages Faster 500+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #6 9 too high 16

Smart Manager – Bulk Edit for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (288) wp.org #21 5 too low 17

MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter 900+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #14 3 too high 18

MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #12 6 too high 19

Bulk Edit and Create User Profiles – WP Sheet Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #18 1 too high 20 S Simple Taxonomy Refreshed 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #9 11 too high 21

Advanced Category and Custom Taxonomy Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #13 8 too high 22

WP Taxonomy Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 12 too high 23

Attachment Taxonomies 1K+ · 4.6★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24

Taxonomy Tags to Checkboxes 700+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #11 13 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.