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

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 “hide featured image”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

WP Hide Show Featured Image shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #1 2 Quick Featured Images 50K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #2 3 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #3 4 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #4 5 Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #5 6 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too low 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Simple Image Sizes 60K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 FSM Custom Featured Image Caption 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #21 ↓2 10 too low 12 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce – Color, Image & Size Swatches 200K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ · 4.5★ (119) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 Product Gallery Slider, Additional Variation Images, Product Video, Product Image Zoom and Lightbox for WooCommerce – Reno Product Gallery (formerly WooGallery) 20K+ · 4.9★ (162) wp.org #16 ↑2 17 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 TP Product Image Flipper for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Additional Variation Images Gallery for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.6★ (162) wp.org #19 ↓5 1 too high 21 Video Gallery for WooCommerce – Add Product Video & Featured Video 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 WP Hide Show Featured Image 3K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #7 ↓1 15 too high 23 WP SVG Images 30K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 CodingBunny Image Optimizer 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 7 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.