Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “no ping”

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 “no ping”, 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

Mass Ping Tool for SEO – WordPress ping list to get indexed faster on Google, Yandex, … shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

wpForo Forum places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 390 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 No Self Ping 10K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #1 2 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too low 4 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 License Manager for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (147) wp.org #13 ↑1 6 too low 8 Auto Ping Booster 900+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too low 11 Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 JoomSport – for Sports: Team & League, Football, Hockey & more 1K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Custom Payment Gateways for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Mass Ping Tool for SEO – WordPress ping list to get indexed faster on Google, Yandex, … 400+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 CSV Importer Plus for ACF 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Baidu Ping Booster 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 Disabler 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 23 Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Grandranker 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.