wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page read button”

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 “page read button”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Read More WP shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #2 3

Call Now Button – The Free Click to Call Button for WordPress 200K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) heavy footprint wp.org #5 6

Page Builder by SiteOrigin 400K+ · 4.8★ (1005) wp.org #11 5 too low 7

PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #10 3 too low 8

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too low 9

Button visually impaired 10K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #21 11 too low 11

CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #17 ↑1 6 too low 12

AddToAny Share Buttons 300K+ · 4.7★ (1114) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #13 1 too low 13

Buttonizer – Floating Menus, Sticky Buttons, & Popup Builder 70K+ · 4.5★ (151) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #9 4 too high 14

Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 15

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) heavy footprint wp.org #22 7 too low 16

Buttonizer – Live Chat, AI Chatbot, Call, Chat, Contact Button 50K+ · 5.0★ (23) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 4 too high 17

Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too high 18

Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #6 12 too high 19

Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 5 too low 20

WebToffee EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too high 21

Razorpay Payment Button Plugin 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #23 24

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.