wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “hierarchical”
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 “hierarchical”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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 Media Category Management shows at wp.org #12 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.7★ average from 35 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #2 1 too low 2 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) thin reviews
wp.org #1 2 too high 4 
Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296)
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #7 ↑3 2 too low 6 
Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89)
wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too high 8 
Nav Menu Roles 70K+ · 4.9★ (219)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
Simple Page Ordering 100K+ · 4.7★ (131)
wp.org #9 ↓1 10 
Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80)
wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 
Dynamic Widgets 10K+ · 4.7★ (109)
wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #14 2 too low 13 
Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187)
wp.org #13 ↑5 14 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #21 7 too low 15 
Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202)
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) not PHP-current
wp.org #15 ↓2 1 too high 17 
Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221)
wp.org #24 ↓1 7 too low 18 
Iks Menu – WordPress Category Accordion Menu & FAQs 10K+ · 5.0★ (27)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 
Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72)
wp.org #19 ↑2 20 WP Media Category Management 6K+ · 4.7★ (35) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #12 8 too high 21 
CSV Importer 3K+ · 4.2★ (28)
wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 
Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28)
wp.org #17 5 too high 23 
Categories Metabox Enhanced 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) thin reviews
wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 
Automatically Hierarchic Categories in Menu 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓2 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.