wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “permalink tag”
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 tag”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Custom Permalink Editor shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 4K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery places #12 on merit, 4.3★ from 4342 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 #2 3 
Premmerce Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 40K+ · 3.9★ (53)
wp.org #3 4 
Permalink Manager for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.9★ (26)
wp.org #4 5 
Custom Post Type Permalinks 200K+ · 4.8★ (71)
wp.org #6 1 too low 6 
Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122)
wp.org #8 2 too low 7 
Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418)
wp.org #12 5 too low 8 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #13 5 too low 9 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #11 2 too low 10 
Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125)
wp.org #17 7 too low 11 
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #18 7 too low 12 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342)
wp.org #23 11 too low 13 
AutoConvert Greeklish Permalinks 40K+ · 4.9★ (26)
wp.org #10 3 too high 14 
GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122)
wp.org #16 2 too low 15 
Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81)
wp.org #15 16 
Metronet Tag Manager 20K+ · 4.8★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #5 11 too high 17 
SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51)
wp.org #14 3 too high 18 
WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136)
wp.org #24 6 too low 19 B Bulglish Permalinks 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #9 10 too high 20 
Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62)
wp.org #22 2 too low 21 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #21 22 
Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Custom Permalink Editor 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #7 16 too high 24 
Default Permalink 10+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews
wp.org #19 5 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.