Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “orphan posts”

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 “orphan posts”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

BKoding – Orphan Page Finder shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 874 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 Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #1 2 WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131) wp.org #2 3 Shortcodes Finder 4K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #4 ↑2 1 too low 4 Advanced Database Cleaner – Optimize & Clean Database to Speed Up Site Performance 100K+ · 4.9★ (1962) wp.org #11 ↓7 7 too low 5 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #16 10 too low 7 Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions 60K+ · 4.7★ (181) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #21 13 too low 9 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Autoremove Attachments 3K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Link Manager – Analyze, Automate, and Monitor Links 1K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 LWS Cleaner 20K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 SweepPress: Website Cleanup and Optimization 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑2 8 too high 16 BKoding – Orphan Page Finder 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 Remove Orphan Shortcodes 1K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Gerdoo Orphan Media Cleaner 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Interlinks Manager – Internal Links Optimizer 7K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 DominoPost – Advanced Post Editor with AI Writer, Link Building Suite, Free Google Search Console & GA4 Analytics 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Relinka – Internal Linking & Orphan Page Finder 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑3 7 too high 23 Scheduled Posts Showcase 30+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Interlink – Internal Links Manager, Orphan Page Finder & SEO Link Suggestions 40+ · 3.0★ (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.