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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “external page”

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 “external page”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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.

P

Ranked above its merit

Page Optimize shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 2617 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #2 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #3 ↑4 4 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #5 ↓2 6 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too low 7 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 External Links in New Window / New Tab 30K+ · 4.5★ (77) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #17 ↓4 8 too low 10 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #7 ↓2 4 too high 12 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 Smart Archive Page Remove 6K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑5 10 too high 15 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Archivarix External Images Importer 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Smart Attachment Page Remove 900+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Improved External Products for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.7★ (26) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Print Page Block – make any page printable in one click 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 E External Permalinks Redux 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓3 2 too high 22 P Page Optimize 200K+ · 3.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓2 14 too high 23 oEmbed External Video 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 WPC Multiple External Product URLs for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.