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

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 shortcodes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

T

Ranked above its merit

Themify Shortcodes shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2667 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 Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) wp.org #1 2 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #2 3 List category posts 70K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #3 4 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #9 10 Arconix Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Easy Bootstrap Shortcode 6K+ · 4.0★ (50) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 JS Archive List 3K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #14 15 Contact List – Online Staff Directory & Address Book 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Coupon Shortcodes for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles 4K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 List Last Changes 1K+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #20 21 Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 Uix Shortcodes 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 T Themify Shortcodes 7K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 13 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.