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← Rankings

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

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

Preload Featured Images shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #1 2 Default Featured Image 50K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #2 3 Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #3 4 F Featured Image Admin Thumb 20K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #4 5 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 N NS Featured Posts 4K+ · 4.8★ (29) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Auto Featured Image (Auto Post Thumbnail) 40K+ · 3.8★ (119) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #9 ↑2 1 too low 9 Add Featured Image Column 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too high 10 Automatic Featured Images from Videos 7K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too high 12 XO Featured Image Tools 20K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Featured Image with URL 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Featured Image Column 2K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 WEN Featured Image 3K+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #15 16 FSM Custom Featured Image Caption 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #24 ↓3 8 too low 17 Featured Video for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↑3 18 Featured Image in Content 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too low 19 A Add Featured Image to RSS Feed 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #19 20 Featured Products First for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 YITH WooCommerce Featured Video 3K+ · 2.9★ (34) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 SNY Auto Featured Image 1K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too high 23 Preload Featured Images 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Featured Image in RSS Feed by MailerLite 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.