Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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

Microdata to JSON-LD Converter shows at wp.org #7 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

OG — Better Share on Social Media places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 216 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #1 2 Protect schema.org markup in HTML editor 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 3 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #12 8 too low 5 Realtyna Organic IDX plugin + WPL Real Estate 1K+ · 4.7★ (203) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 S Surbma | Yoast SEO Breadcrumb Shortcode 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 JW Player for WordPress 1K+ · 3.8★ (29) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Author hReview 200+ · 4.0★ (21) wp.org #23 15 too low 9 Spoken Word 90+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Genesis Portfolio Pro 5K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 wAnswers – SEO-First Q&A 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Edu 1493 Microdata — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Cosmo AI FAQ Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 S SEO Internal Link Shortcode 60+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 SEOLAT Tool Plus 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 16 WMX Pull Product Images — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Microdata to JSON-LD Converter — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 WP referrer spam blacklist (fight 2040+ Referrer Spammers in (Google/Matomo) Analytics) 600+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Qaiyo Testimonials — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 L Lux Copyright Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Schemify 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 SARVAROV Lazy Load — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 S SEO BreadCrumb 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 S SimpleSchema Free 20+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 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.