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

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 editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 #1 2 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #2 3 Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312) wp.org #3 4 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #4 ↑4 5 Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237) wp.org #8 ↓3 3 too low 6 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #6 ↓5 7 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #20 ↑4 12 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↑4 4 too low 10 BEAR – Bulk Editor for WooCommerce Professional. AI assistant on board (MCP Server) 30K+ · 4.7★ (228) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Theme Editor 50K+ · 4.6★ (128) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #18 ↓7 5 too low 14 Protect schema.org markup in HTML editor 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 WP Editor 20K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #21 ↓3 6 too low 16 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #19 ↓4 2 too low 18 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 12 too high 20 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #24 ↓1 4 too low 21 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↓2 13 too high 23 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 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.