Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hidden link”

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 “hidden link”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Extend Link shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #4 5 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #22 ↑1 11 too low 12 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #24 ↓2 9 too low 16 LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Shipping Simulator for WooCommerce 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #16 ↑3 1 too high 18 Lightbox & Modal Popup WordPress Plugin – FooBox 100K+ · 3.9★ (95) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 Hide Link | Really hide links to robots 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 VS Link Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Extend Link 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #9 15 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.