Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “plugin author”

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 “plugin author”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

Guest Author shows at wp.org #6 but places #15 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #1 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too low 8 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #21 ↑1 10 too low 12 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #15 ↑3 2 too low 14 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #9 ↑1 5 too high 15 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 Plugin Check (PCP) 10K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 D Disable Author Archives 10K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too high 21 Osom Author Pro 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 WP Custom Author URL 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 SiteGuard WP Plugin 600K+ · 4.3★ (15) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Default Post Author 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 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.