wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pdf support”

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 “pdf support”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

PDF Viewer Block for Gutenberg shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes & Shipping Labels places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 285 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 signals wp.org

PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #1 2

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #2 3

DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #3 4

Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #4 5

PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6

Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #5 1 too high 7

PDF Ink Lite – Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection 2K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #7 ↓1 8

PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #8 ↑1 9

Awesome Support – WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin 6K+ · 3.5★ (194) wp.org #9 ↑2 10

WebToffee WooCommerce PDF Invoices, Packing Slips, Delivery Notes & Shipping Labels 50K+ · 4.9★ (285) wp.org #24 ↓9 14 too low 11

Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) wp.org #18 ↑1 7 too low 12

Fluent PDF Generator 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 6 too high 13 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #14 1 too low 14

PDF Builder for WooCommerce. Create invoices,packing slips and more 2K+ · 4.7★ (145) wp.org #22 8 too low 15

Cart PDF for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #15 ↑1 16

DK PDF – WordPress PDF Generator 3K+ · 4.5★ (44) wp.org #16 ↑1 17

Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too high 18

PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce – Challan 7K+ · 4.6★ (47) wp.org #20 ↑3 2 too low 19

PDF Generator for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (39) wp.org #19 ↑1 20

Wonder PDF Embed 8K+ · 4.5★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #13 7 too high 21

PDF Viewer Block for Gutenberg 10K+ · 4.8★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #12 9 too high 22

mPDF add-on for RTL and Unicode Support 4K+ · 5.0★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #17 6 too high 24

PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 1 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.