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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “paged”

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 “paged”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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.

V

Ranked above its merit

View All Post's Pages shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gallery by Visual Portfolio places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 340 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Ditty – Responsive News Tickers, Sliders, and Lists 30K+ · 4.6★ (106) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 50K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too low 4 Breadcrumb Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Teydea Password Reset – Force Password Reset & Expiration 500+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 jQuery Post Splitter 100+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #11 ↑3 4 too low 8 Banhammer – Monitor Site Traffic, Block Bad Users and Bots 1K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too high 9 Footnotes & Content 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 SX No Homepage Pagination 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too low 11 Users Bulk Delete With Preview 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 W WP Print Friendly 500+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓3 6 too high 13 Custom Posts Per Page Reloaded 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Simple Guestbook 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Ask My Brand Feed 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 SX No author Pagination 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 V View All Post's Pages 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓2 7 too high 18 Airano MCP Bridge 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 N Noindex paged OrgV — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 DataLayer for GTM and Matomo 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 LDAP Staff Directory — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too low 22 Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Ultimate Crypto Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 A Alphabetical Pagination 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑3 5 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.