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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “highlighted text”

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 “highlighted text”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 4 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

LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ 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

WP2Social Auto Publish places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 640 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 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #1 2 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Accessibility Tools & Alt Text Finder 3K+ · 4.9★ (69) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Supreme Modules Lite – Divi Theme, Extra Theme and Divi Builder 200K+ · 4.8★ (109) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too low 6 WP2Social Auto Publish 9K+ · 4.8★ (640) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Qi Addons For Elementor 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too low 9 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 PW WooCommerce Bulk Edit 20K+ · 4.9★ (238) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Interactive Image Map Plugin – Draw Attention 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 WP Twitter Auto Publish 3K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Text to Speech – Reinvent WP 40+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too high 15 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Special Text Boxes 1K+ · 3.4★ (21) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Fix Alt Text 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Magical Addons For Elementor ( Theme Builder, Header Footer Builder, Free Elementor Widgets, Elementor Templates Library ) 4K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 18 too high 23 Qi Blocks 60K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Marquee Addons for Elementor – Essential Motion Widgets & Templates 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 2 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.