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

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 “narrator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 plugins are 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

// dadalab page narrator shows at wp.org #3 but places #7 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Max Mega Menu places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Trinity Audio – Text to Speech AI audio player to convert content into audio 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #1 2 GSpeech TTS – WordPress Text To Speech Plugin 3K+ · 4.8★ (178) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too low 3 SiteNarrator Text-to-Speech Widget 800+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #15 ↓2 11 too low 5 MyBookTable Bookstore by Stormhill Media 1K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Mooberry Book Manager 1K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #16 ↓1 10 too low 7 // dadalab page narrator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 E EsAudioPlayer 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 ↓1 10 too low 10 Colbass – a Read-Aloud player (Text to Speech) AI audio player — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Speechable 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 Parlato – AI Podcast Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 Ojelio — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 Seaglass Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Voicgen – AI Text to Speech & Media Player — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 NettoProfit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too high 17 CloudScale SEO AI Optimizer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too high 18 Vampire Character Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 SpeakStaff Audio Player 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 narando 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓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.