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

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 “footnotes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Inline Context – Footnotes, Tooltips & Glossary Notes shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

EazyDocs – AI Powered Knowledge Base, Wiki, Documentation & FAQ Builder places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 100 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 Easy Footnotes 8K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #1 2 Modern Footnotes 6K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #2 3 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #3 4 M Mammoth .docx converter 20K+ · 4.8★ (62) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Glossary 2K+ · 4.7★ (84) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 Blank Footnotes 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Print My Blog – Print, PDF, & eBook Converter WordPress Plugin 8K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too low 8 EazyDocs – AI Powered Knowledge Base, Wiki, Documentation & FAQ Builder 2K+ · 4.7★ (100) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 European VAT Compliance Assistant for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 CM Footnotes – Boost your content’s credibility with footnotes, citations, and bibliography 100+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Simple Ebook Viewer 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓7 5 too low 16 Inline Context – Footnotes, Tooltips & Glossary Notes 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑8 8 too high 17 Post Word Counter – Content Insights Dashboard 200+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Blockenberg — 645 Advanced Gutenberg Blocks, 683 Templates and AI Agent for WordPress Block Editor 1K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓3 3 too low 20 JReferences 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 External Links to Footnotes — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 Footnote Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 PlugTide Digital Menu for Restaurants — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Zotero Notes 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑5 5 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.