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← Rankings

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

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 “kses”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Mailster Block Forms shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Head & Footer Code places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 51 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 Payment Gateway for Redsys & WooCommerce Lite 20K+ · 4.9★ (87) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 H Hotfix 4K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 GD Mail Queue 700+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #16 ↑1 11 too low 6 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #23 ↑1 17 too low 7 Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #24 ↓1 17 too low 8 MarkBlocks – Markdown for Elementor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑2 3 too high 9 Blocks Everywhere 50+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 LLM Friendly 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Rexultz Product Feeds 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 SaniGlyph SVG — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Coywolf Code Block Enhancer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 Sobol Safe Save — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 HiveKit External API Page Content — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 HarperFlow — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 GEOforge Schema — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 IconQuarry — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Saiy2k Nostr Components — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Mailing Manager – PN 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Monetize Me — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 KUROFUNE LINK — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 1 too high 23 Scayla Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Mailster Block Forms 60+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.