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

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 “interlinks”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Interlink – Internal Links Manager, Orphan Page Finder & SEO Link Suggestions shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) places #2 on merit, 4.8★ from 633 reviews, but shows at wp.org #6. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 Interlinks Manager – Internal Links Optimizer 7K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 TrackFree – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking 100+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #4 5 Bulk Interlinking Tool 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce – Trackora 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Coming Soon Maintenance Mode 6K+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Insights 300+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #20 12 too low 9 Multi-Carrier EasyPost Shipping Methods & Address Validation for WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Garantiwebt AI – AI Content Generator (Claude, OpenAI & Gemini) 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 WordPress Store Locator AI powered – Elementor – Fast loading – Local SEO — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 ShipBlink: EasyPost Live Checkout Rates & Labels 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Purrlink – AI Internal Linking — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 IntelliLink Craft – Smart Internal Linking & Auto-Linker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Bulk Remove ALL Internal Links in WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 S Sch.gr Commons 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 Manage post content links-interlinks 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 S SEO Super Comments 200+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Digigyan SEO Toolkit 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 W WP Camp Webring — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 I Internal-Site SEO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Interlink – Internal Links Manager, Orphan Page Finder & SEO Link Suggestions 40+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 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.