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

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 tab”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Floating Side Tab shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 600+ 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

WP Super Cache places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 1346 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 #2 1 too low 2 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 HTML Editor Syntax Highlighter 60K+ · 4.4★ (110) wp.org #3 4 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #7 ↓3 3 too low 5 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #9 ↓6 4 too low 6 Minify HTML 10K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #6 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Custom HTML Block Extension 7K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too low 10 A Allow HTML in Category Descriptions 8K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #23 ↑1 11 too low 13 Product Tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (69) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Always Edit In HTML 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #4 ↑1 10 too high 15 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 CSV to HTML 300+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Custom Product tabs for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #20 ↓6 3 too low 18 Tabs Widget for Page Builder 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #24 ↓3 6 too low 19 Export WordPress Pages to Static HTML & PDF — Static Site Export 4K+ · 3.8★ (51) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 Plethora Tabs + Accordions 2K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too low 21 Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Advance Custom HTML – Show Off Code Snippets with Live Preview 10K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 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.