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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “html api”

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 “html api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 2667 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 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #1 2 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #2 3 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #3 ↑2 4 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #16 ↓2 9 too low 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 Datafeedr API 4K+ · 4.0★ (13) wp.org #5 ↓1 5 too high 11 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #13 ↓6 1 too low 13 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Get Use APIs – JSON Content Importer 5K+ · 4.9★ (78) wp.org #24 ↓3 10 too low 15 CSV to HTML 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #15 16 Custom API for WP 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #14 ↑2 2 too high 17 R REST API Log 5K+ · 3.6★ (24) wp.org #11 ↑2 6 too high 18 Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #18 19 CoCart – Headless REST API for WooCommerce 900+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 MStore API – Create Native Android & iOS Apps On The Cloud 2K+ · 3.7★ (21) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 13 too high 23 getLaw WP API Client 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) 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.