Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “name shortcode”

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 “name shortcode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Shortcode for Font Awesome shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #1 2 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #2 3 Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #10 ↑11 6 too low 5 Snippet Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.7★ (25) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #13 ↓3 7 too low 7 ( (Simply) Guest Author Name 2K+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Shortcodes Finder 4K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #18 ↓1 8 too low 11 PDF.js Viewer 20K+ · 4.4★ (53) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #20 ↓9 7 too low 14 Arconix Shortcodes 3K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 Nested Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #15 16 Easy Bootstrap Shortcode 6K+ · 4.0★ (50) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 MachForm Shortcode 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 HTML Page Sitemap (Block and Shortcode) 10K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 S Surbma | Yoast SEO Breadcrumb Shortcode 3K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Shortcode for Font Awesome 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 10 too high 22 Breadcrumbs Shortcode 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Five-Star Ratings Shortcode 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 M MCM Random Baby Name Generator 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 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.