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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “editor formats”

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 “editor formats”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 plugins are 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

Snow Monkey Editor shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 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 wp.org
1 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #1 2 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #2 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 4 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #4 5 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Gutenverse – WordPress Blocks, Page Builder & Site Editor 20K+ · 4.9★ (190) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Spectra Blocks – AI Website Builder for the Block Editor 60K+ · 4.6★ (53) wp.org #10 11 WOLF – WordPress Posts Bulk Editor and Manager Professional 4K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 Visual CSS Style Editor 30K+ · 4.1★ (90) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Snow Monkey Editor 30K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 GutenKit – Page Builder Blocks, Patterns, and Templates for Gutenberg Block Editor 80K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Advanced Classic Editor 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Rich Text Formats 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 9 too high 22 Abbreviation Button for the Block Editor 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Image Editor by Pixo 700+ · 3.5★ (10) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 E Editor Bridge 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.