Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “lists”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 #21 on merit, a gap of 14 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

The Events Calendar places #8 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Show modified Date in admin lists 6K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #1 2 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #2 3 List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #4 ↑3 1 too low 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #6 ↑6 2 too low 5 Ditty – Responsive News Tickers, Sliders, and Lists 30K+ · 4.6★ (106) wp.org #5 6 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too low 8 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 Product Table & List Builder for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (254) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #19 ↓2 5 too low 15 Item Lists for Elementor 1K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #3 12 too high 16 WP Attachments – Smarter File Management & Download Lists 3K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #10 ↓2 8 too high 19 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #15 ↑5 4 too high 20 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too high 21 Icon List Block – Add Icon-Based Lists with Custom Styles 4K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #7 ↓1 14 too high 22 Plugins List 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Ultimate Post List 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Show Pages URL List 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 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.