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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “extract text”

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 “extract text”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Alt Text 10K+ · 5.0★ (56) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech 7K+ · 3.9★ (34) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #7 ↑5 8 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #9 ↓1 10 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #16 ↓6 4 too low 13 WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 File Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (202) wp.org #17 ↑5 3 too low 15 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #21 ↓4 6 too low 16 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too high 17 E Enhanced Text Widget 30K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 Alt Text Generator AI – Auto Generate Alt Texts with AltPilot 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too high 21 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 neo Rename – AI Media Renamer for renaming images & alt text with batch processing 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 WP Responsive Auto Fit Text 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 neo Alt – AI Alt Text Generator for images with bulk processing – Free and No API Key Required 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 11 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.