wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “meta author”
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 “meta author”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Hide Author Archive shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 500+ 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
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 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.
All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 
Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158)
wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 
WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) thin reviews
wp.org #2 2 too high 5 
Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259)
wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 
GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122)
wp.org #9 3 too low 7 
Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews
wp.org #5 2 too high 8 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #14 ↓1 6 too low 9 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519)
wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #11 1 too low 11 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #12 ↑12 1 too low 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #20 ↓2 8 too low 13 
Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004)
wp.org #19 6 too low 14 
WPSSO Core – Complete Schema Markup and Meta Tags 4K+ · 4.6★ (306)
wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 
VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 
GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155)
wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 
Search & Filter 40K+ · 4.5★ (175)
wp.org #24 ↓1 6 too low 19 
SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51)
wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 
WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327)
wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 
Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Hide Author Archive 500+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #8 14 too high 23 
Remove Meta Generators 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #10 13 too high 24 
Auto SEO META keywords (META tags keywords) optimization + WooCommerce 500+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.