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← Rankings

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

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 “nested”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Nested Ordered Lists for Block Editor shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.5★ from 449 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Nested Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #16 ↑2 6 too low 11 List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 WP Swiper 4K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #23 ↓7 6 too low 18 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Dark Mode for WP Dashboard 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20 No Category Base (WPML) 100K+ · 4.5★ (34) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Nested Ordered Lists 700+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 too high 22 Reorder Posts – Quick Post Type and Page Ordering 10K+ · 3.9★ (28) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 No Category Parents 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too high 24 Nested Ordered Lists for Block Editor 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #7 17 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.