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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “permalinks tree”

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 “permalinks tree”, 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 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

Knowledge Base shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100+ 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

Wicked Folders – Folder Organizer for Pages, Posts, and Custom Post Types places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 56 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 Better Permalinks 1K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #1 2 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 F4 Post Tree 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Wicked Folders – Folder Organizer for Pages, Posts, and Custom Post Types 20K+ · 4.9★ (56) wp.org #12 ↓5 5 too low 8 Gmedia Photo Gallery 7K+ · 4.3★ (260) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 RootsPersona 400+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #8 ↑2 2 too high 11 Greek Multi Tool 1K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 System Dashboard 900+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓4 14 Sublanguage 600+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #20 ↓6 6 too low 15 ALD – Dropshipping and Fulfillment for AliExpress and WooCommerce 8K+ · 3.7★ (138) wp.org #24 ↓6 9 too low 16 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Simple Media Library Folders 100+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too high 18 Knowledge Base 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↓4 8 too high 19 Glossary Tooltip – Highlight Terms & Show Tooltips 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓6 20 Dynamic Fields Engine – Custom post types, Custom fields, Meta fields, Taxonomies, Listing builder, Query builder and Relations 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too high 21 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 MediaCommander – Media Library Folders & File Manager 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 AcrossAI MCP Manager – WordPress MCP Server & Admin for MCP Adapter, Claude & ChatGPT 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 N Nested Blog Posts 10+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓6 2 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.