wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “permalink manage”
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 manage”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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
Manage – Centralized site maintenance and monitoring shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WP Activity Log places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 490 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.
Permalink Manager Lite 100K+ · 4.8★ (176)
wp.org #1 2 
Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Premmerce Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.9★ (53) not PHP-current
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #7 3 too low 5 
WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint
wp.org #4 1 too high 6 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703)
wp.org #6 1 too high 8 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #11 3 too low 9 
MainWP Dashboard: Self-hosted WordPress Management for Agencies 20K+ · 4.9★ (2354) not PHP-current
wp.org #14 5 too low 10 
404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321)
wp.org #13 3 too low 11 
My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159)
wp.org #16 5 too low 12 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #19 7 too low 13 
AddQuicktag 100K+ · 4.7★ (44)
wp.org #12 1 too high 14 
GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) heavy footprint
wp.org #22 8 too low 15 
301 Redirects – Redirect Manager 300K+ · 4.7★ (578)
wp.org #24 9 too low 16 
Advanced Custom Fields: Extended 100K+ · 4.8★ (132)
wp.org #20 4 too low 17 
Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104)
wp.org #18 1 too low 18 
WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 B BSK PDF Manager 7K+ · 4.5★ (46) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #17 3 too high 21 
Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 
Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #15 7 too high 23 A Auto Republish & Permalink Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Manage – Centralized site maintenance and monitoring 100K+ · 2.0★ (1) host-installed base thin reviewslow rating, top placement
wp.org #5 19 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.