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

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 edit”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

WP Edit Username shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1916 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #6 ↓3 2 too low 5 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 ↓5 9 too low 7 Bulk Edit Products for WooCommerce – WP Sheet Editor 10K+ · 4.9★ (228) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #5 ↓1 4 too high 10 A Allow HTML in Category Descriptions 8K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #12 ↓4 2 too low 11 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #22 ↓2 11 too low 12 Smart Manager – Bulk Edit for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.4★ (288) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #20 ↓2 6 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #21 ↓5 6 too low 16 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 CSV to HTML 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 WP Edit Username 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓2 12 too high 20 Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↑1 10 too high 21 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓2 10 too high 22 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 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.