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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “importing”

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 “importing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

S

Ranked above its merit

Simple Membership WP user Import shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 4K+ 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

Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4755 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #1 2 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #4 5 Widget Importer & Exporter 200K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 R Really Simple CSV Importer 40K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Customizer Export/Import 100K+ · 4.8★ (115) wp.org #8 9 WP Table Builder – Drag & Drop Table Builder 50K+ · 4.8★ (681) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 1M+ · 4.9★ (4755) wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too low 12 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too low 13 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #18 ↑6 5 too low 14 Media Sync 50K+ · 4.7★ (86) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Paste As Plain Text By Default 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Podcast Importer SecondLine 4K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #21 ↑2 3 too low 19 Hreflang Manager – Hreflang Implementation for International SEO 8K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Advanced Import 80K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 S Simple Membership WP user Import 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Base (formerly BaseLinker) – 300+ marketplaces, 150+ carriers & PIM & OMS & WMS in one 5K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Easy Demo Importer – A Modern One-Click Demo Import Solution 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Demo Importer Plus 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 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.