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

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 section”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Header Footer Custom Html shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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 Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Kwayy HTML Sitemap 6K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too high 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 too low 5 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #9 ↓5 4 too low 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #21 ↑1 15 too low 7 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 CSV to HTML 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Shortcode in Menus 50K+ · 4.7★ (82) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #23 ↓4 10 too low 14 Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 WP Super Minify • Minify, Compress and Cache HTML, CSS & JavaScript 8K+ · 4.1★ (73) wp.org #22 ↓1 7 too low 16 Services Section Block – present your services in clean grids and columns 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #4 ↓1 12 too high 17 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Better Section Navigation 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 Jamie's Visual HTML Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too high 20 Fixed HTML Toolbar 50+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 HTML Tag and Class Replace 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Header Footer Custom Html 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Team Section Block – Showcase Team Members with Layout Options 1K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 13 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.