wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “heading tag”

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 “heading tag”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 of the top 20. 2 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

Add Anchor Links shows at wp.org #17 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #1 2

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #2 3

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #3 4

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #4 5

Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #5 6

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #6 7

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #7 1 too high 9

Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) not PHP-current wp.org #12 1 too low 12

Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #15 3 too low 13

Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #11 2 too high 14

GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #13 1 too high 15

AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #22 7 too low 16

Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #14 2 too high 17

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #16 1 too high 18

Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #21 3 too low 19

Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #19 20

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #20 21

SimpleTOC – Table of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.9★ (77) wp.org #24 3 too low 22

Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #23 1 too low 23

Add Anchor Links 1K+ · 4.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

Table Of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #18 6 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.