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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pages creator”

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 “pages creator”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

QR Code Creator shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 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

Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 591 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 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 2 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #2 3 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Mass Pages/Posts Creator 1K+ · 4.2★ (17) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Conditionally display featured image on singular posts and pages 30K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Coupon Creator 1K+ · 4.3★ (37) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Custom Login Page Customizer 50K+ · 4.9★ (476) wp.org #21 12 too low 10 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Landing Page Builder – Coming Soon page, Maintenance Mode, Lead Page, WordPress Landing Pages 8K+ · 4.6★ (202) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 MPG – Multiple Page Generator, Bulk Landing Pages & Programmatic SEO 2K+ · 3.9★ (27) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Link in Bio Creator – Social 2K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Bulk menu creator 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 Bulk Page Stub Creator 500+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Auto Tag Creator – Automatic Tags for Posts and WooCommerce Products 1K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 QR Code Creator 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 17 too high 24 AI Content Creator – Easy ChatGPT powered article generator 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 7 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.