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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “nested 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 “nested shortcode”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Display During Conditional Shortcode shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 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 #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Nested Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #13 ↑4 5 too low 9 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #24 ↓2 12 too low 13 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #14 15 Conditional Fields for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.8★ (166) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too high 16 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #22 ↓9 6 too low 17 Divi Carousel Lite – Make Carousels for Divi 5 30K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 WPGet API – Connect to any external REST API 10K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 Display During Conditional Shortcode 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 User Access Shortcodes 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #17 ↑1 4 too high 22 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #20 ↑3 2 too high 23 DayOfWeek 300+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #9 ↑2 14 too high 24 Buythis Shortcode 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.