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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “how to”

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 “how to”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 17 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #1 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 3 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑7 2 too low 5 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #12 ↓3 4 too low 9 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) wp.org #10 ↑2 1 too high 12 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #13 ↑5 1 too low 13 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #23 ↓13 5 too low 19 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #18 ↑1 2 too high 21 Add to Calendar Button 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Advanced Post Block – Display Your Posts Exactly How You Want 10K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #9 ↓2 13 too high 23 Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too high 24 Admin Help Docs 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↑1 9 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.