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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “paginated 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 “paginated comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

CodingBunny Database Cleaner shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 136 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #1 2 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #2 3 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #3 4 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Helpful – Article Feedback Plugin 600+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 WP-DraftsForFriends 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 WP Discourse 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 ImgSEO – AI Image Alt Text Generator & Image SEO Tools 400+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 CodingBunny Database Cleaner 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 ZDN Adblock Detector 100+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Kenta Blocks – Responsive Blocks and block templates library 2K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Convocept – Fast Native Comment System — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.