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← Rankings

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

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 request”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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.

Ranked above its merit

BlackSwan | Block External Request shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3221 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 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 80K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too low 3 GDPRess | Eliminate external requests to increase GDPR compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #18 14 too low 5 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #23 ↓2 15 too low 9 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 YITH Request a Quote for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (66) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 External files in Media Library 500+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 8 too high 12 HTTP Requests Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #13 ↑3 14 Local Google Analytics for WordPress – caches external requests 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #15 ↓3 16 Custom Fonts – Host Your Fonts Locally 400K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #21 ↓1 5 too low 17 Local Fonts Uploader – Upload & Host Any Font Locally for GDPR 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Smart Auto Upload Images – Import External Images 5K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Custom iFrame – Embed PDFs, Videos, and External Content in WordPress (Elementor & Gutenberg) 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 BlackSwan | Block External Request 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 External Store for Shopify 2K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 M Marquix – Marquee, Scrolling Text & Logo Carousel for Elementor 200+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.