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

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 “parser”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

News-Parser shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

Child Theme Configurator places #7 on merit, 4.7★ from 280 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #1 2 301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578) wp.org #2 3 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #3 4 ICS Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (72) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #22 15 too low 8 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #17 ↓2 8 too low 10 S SQLite Database Integration 5K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #23 ↑1 12 too low 12 Bit Flows: AI Agent Automation & Integrations for Forms, CRM, eCommerce, Google Sheets, and More 1K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #24 ↓1 12 too low 13 CURCY – Multi Currency for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.3★ (227) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed Booster 1K+ · 3.9★ (15) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Friends 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 CSV Importer 3K+ · 4.2★ (28) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Ultimate Markdown – Markdown Editor, Importer, & Exporter 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Compressed Emoji 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Full-Text Search 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 News-Parser 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 AI to Elementor — HTML Importer for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Import Markdown – Versatile Markdown Importer 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 12 too high 24 GeoGuard WP – GRC 30+ · 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.