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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “extend”

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 “extend”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Extend Link shows at wp.org #2 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Classic Editor 8M+ · 4.9★ (1251) wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too low 7 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 ↓3 3 too low 8 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #13 ↓2 4 too low 10 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #16 ↑2 3 too low 14 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #23 ↓2 9 too low 15 Reusable Blocks Extended 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #11 ↑2 8 too high 20 Extend Link 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #2 18 too high 21 Extendify 500K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 W WP Extend Toolbar 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 14 too high 23 Lead Generation Contact Widget & AI Chatbot: Chat Button, Phone Call, Telegram, Email – SiteLeads 10K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 Shopkeeper Extender 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.