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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “link widget”

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 “link widget”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget shows at wp.org #15 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1516 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #4 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #14 ↑7 7 too low 8 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too low 9 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets 100K+ · 4.9★ (1516) wp.org #18 8 too low 11 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Black Studio TinyMCE Widget 200K+ · 4.8★ (191) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #8 ↓1 6 too high 15 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Widgets for Social Photo Feed 10K+ · 4.7★ (28) wp.org #11 ↑8 5 too high 17 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 Visual Link Preview 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too high 19 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 WPZOOM Social Feed Widget & Block 50K+ · 4.3★ (51) wp.org #20 ↓10 21 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #22 ↓7 1 too low 22 GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 ↑2 7 too high 23 Dashboard quick links widget 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #19 ↓8 4 too high 24 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) 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.