Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “linked in”

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 “linked in”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 4 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

Linked Open Profiles shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 60+ 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

Nextend Social Login and Register places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 446 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 WPC Linked Variation for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Nextend Social Login and Register 200K+ · 4.9★ (446) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Export media with selected content (by DKZR) 40K+ · 4.5★ (93) wp.org #13 ↑2 4 too low 10 Linked Variations for WooCommerce – Link Separate Products by Attribute with Swatches, Quick View & Shortcodes 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #3 ↑1 7 too high 11 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 WPC Product Bundles for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.4★ (220) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Kadence Starter Templates — Predesigned Website Templates 200K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 MKL Product Configurator for WooCommerce – 2D & 3D Live Preview 2K+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #18 ↑5 3 too low 16 Linked Variation for WooCommerce 300+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Lightbox Images for Divi Enhanced 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 WPC Smart Linked Products – Upsells & Cross-sells for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Force Sell for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Linked Open Profiles 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 WPC Product Videos for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Clever Linked Terms 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 13 too high 24 Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 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.