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

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 title”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Clever Linked Terms shows at wp.org #3 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 10+ 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

Duplicate Post places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #6 ↑3 4 too low 3 Linked Variations for WooCommerce – Link Separate Products by Attribute with Swatches, Quick View & Shortcodes 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Lightbox with PhotoSwipe 20K+ · 4.9★ (115) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too low 6 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too high 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #13 ↓9 6 too low 8 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (742) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Duplicate Post 300K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #20 ↓2 10 too low 11 Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #18 ↓2 6 too low 13 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 WPC Smart Quick View for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Manual Related Posts 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #17 ↑2 1 too low 17 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 E Enhanced Text Widget 30K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #8 ↓2 12 too high 21 Gutenslider — Slider Block for the Block Editor 10K+ · 4.0★ (65) wp.org #21 22 Kadence Starter Templates — Predesigned Website Templates 200K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #15 ↓2 7 too high 23 Clever Linked Terms 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 20 too high 24 Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑4 20 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.