Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 files”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Checkout Files Upload for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.4★ average from 14 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 #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #1 2 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #2 3 Insert Html Snippet 20K+ · 4.9★ (237) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 HTML Forms – Simple WordPress Forms Plugin 10K+ · 4.9★ (57) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #5 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 User Private Files – Secure File Sharing and Client Portal Plugin 1K+ · 4.4★ (57) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Checkout Files Upload for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Hierarchical HTML Sitemap 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 File Upload Types by WPForms 40K+ · 4.0★ (20) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) 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.