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← Rankings

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

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 “list”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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

Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 4625 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #1 2 List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #22 14 too low 9 Product Table & List Builder for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (254) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 JS Archive List 3K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #16 ↓4 6 too low 11 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Stylish Price List – Price Table Builder & QR Code Restaurant Menu 3K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #21 ↑1 8 too low 14 Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 12 Step Meeting List 900+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 Contact List – Online Staff Directory & Address Book 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 List Last Changes 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19 L List all URLs 4K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Dashboard To-Do List 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Authors List 5K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles 4K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓2 15 too high 23 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too high 24 Stock Quotes List 500+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.