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

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 “inject html”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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.

Ranked above its merit

HTML Page Publisher shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 500+ 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

OG — Better Share on Social Media places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 216 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 Autoptimize 800K+ · 4.7★ (1428) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Insert Headers and Footers Code – HT Script 7K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Head, Footer and Post Injections 200K+ · 4.9★ (735) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #6 7 Options for Twenty Twenty-One 6K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #19 ↑1 7 too low 13 Swap Google Fonts Display: Improve Font Rendering & Performance 10K+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Attributes for Blocks 4K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #14 15 Easy Google Adsense and Banner Ads Manager – AdsforWP 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 HTML Page Publisher 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↑2 13 too high 17 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #21 ↓4 4 too low 18 Nexter Extension – Security, Performance, Code Snippets & Site Toolkit 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #20 ↓5 2 too low 19 CookieFox – Cookie Notice 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 WP Dynamic Keywords Injector 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Better Badge – Custom Product Badges for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 CM Header and Footer – Add custom scripts and styles to your header and footer with ease 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Init Content Protector – Anti-Copy, Anti-Scrape, Encrypt-All 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Grandranker 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.