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← Rankings

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

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 “path”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Make Paths Relative shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.1★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All-in-One WP Migration and Backup places #8 on merit, 4.5★ from 7676 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Original Media Path 5K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #2 3 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too low 10 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 File Manager Pro – Filester 100K+ · 4.9★ (155) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #24 ↓2 10 too low 15 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #15 ↑5 2 too high 18 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #22 ↓1 4 too low 19 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Make Paths Relative 2K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #11 ↑1 9 too high 21 Ads.txt Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Contact Form to Any API 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 WP SAML Auth 7K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 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.