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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “permalink editor”

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 “permalink editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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.

P

Ranked above its merit

PTAPS – Post Type Archive Pages and Permalink Settings shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 80+ 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

Smart Custom 404 Error Page places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1197 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176) wp.org #1 2 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too low 4 Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Parsi Date | بسته فارسی ساز وردپرس و ووکامرس پارسی دیت 100K+ · 4.6★ (130) wp.org #5 6 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too low 8 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #11 ↑3 3 too low 9 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #19 ↓2 10 too low 10 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too low 11 AddQuicktag 100K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Custom Permalink Editor 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #18 ↑6 4 too low 15 Secondary Title 7K+ · 4.9★ (72) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #14 ↓3 3 too high 18 E External Permalinks Redux 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 9 too high 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 ↑7 3 too high 20 Real3D Flipbook – 3D Flipbook, PDF Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 10K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 JHMG AI Editor for Divi 5 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓3 22 P PTAPS – Post Type Archive Pages and Permalink Settings 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑2 12 too high 23 Default Permalink 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Audio Editor & Recorder 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.