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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pillar”

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 “pillar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

Ranked above its merit

Link Diagnostics – Broken Links, Redirects, and Link Insights shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 4Linking — Internal Linking on Autopilot: Rules, Pillar Pages & Link Map 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 2 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Convesio Convert – WooCommerce Email Marketing Automation with Website Personalization, Popups and Forms 90+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Ultimate Cursor – Interactive and Animated Custom Cursor and Background Effects Toolkit 3K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 GEO Suite – AI SEO, llms.txt & Schema – Octoplug 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 6 AI Content Writer for GEO & Autopublish by TalkGenAI 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Pillark – Pillar & SEO Cluster Internal Linking 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 CraftyWebbies Pillar & Cluster Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Animation Kit – Animated Backgrounds & WebGL Effects 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 I Internal Link Visualizer 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #11 12 Rich Taxonomy 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 GuardianKey 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 14 Telkari – Floating Social Icons & CTAs 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Chinese horoscope 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too low 16 TNT AI Writer – AI Content Generator, Trending Topic Finder & SEO Draft Writer 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑4 2 too high 17 Draft2Publish – AI Content Writer, Autoblogging & Image Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Link Diagnostics – Broken Links, Redirects, and Link Insights 50+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Hridyaa AI Search Readiness Optimizer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too high 20 Edel Museum Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Newsroom OS – Google Discover, Google News, Schema & Editorial Workflow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Form Plant 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 MyAuthorityIQ 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 BreznGEO 10+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.