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

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 comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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.

W

Ranked above its merit

WP Print Friendly shows at wp.org #6 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 169 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. 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 #1 2 Gallery by Visual Portfolio 60K+ · 4.8★ (340) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Ajax Load More – Infinite Scroll, Load More, & Lazy Load 30K+ · 4.8★ (287) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 AI Puffer – AI Chatbot & MCP Server for Claude and ChatGPT 10K+ · 4.6★ (166) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Oasis Workflow 600+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #16 6 too low 11 Lightweight Subscribe To Comments 1K+ · 4.9★ (25) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Seraphinite Post .DOCX Source 800+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 10 too high 16 Users Bulk Delete With Preview 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 W WP Print Friendly 500+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #6 11 too high 18 Simple Guestbook 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 V View All Post's Pages 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 LDAP Staff Directory — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Init Review System – Reactions, Multi-Criteria, Guest-Friendly 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 M mi13 сache — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 VADware Reviews — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 SiteNivo – Modular Site Toolkit — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #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.