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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “option tree”

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 “option tree”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

Custom Options tree shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages places #9 on merit, 4.4★ from 1319 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 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too low 2 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too low 3 Genealogical Tree – Family Tree & Ancestry for WordPress 600+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #4 5 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #17 6 too low 12 SEO Optimized Images 10K+ · 4.0★ (27) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #19 ↑3 3 too low 17 W WP-dTree 2K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Custom Options tree 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓2 13 too high 19 FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #10 ↑3 9 too high 20 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #23 ↓5 3 too low 21 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 RootsPersona 400+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Decision Tree Navigator 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 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.