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← Rankings

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

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 “pretty”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 2 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

Pretty Sidebar Categories shows at wp.org #4 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

D

Buried gem

Duplicate Menu places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 104 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #1 2 Pretty Google Calendar 4K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #2 3 Justified Gallery 8K+ · 4.9★ (206) wp.org #8 5 too low 4 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #12 8 too low 5 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 D Disable XML-RPC 200K+ · 4.1★ (34) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 P Page Links To 100K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #17 ↓1 8 too low 10 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 D Duplicate Menu 100K+ · 4.6★ (104) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12 Modern Footnotes 6K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #15 ↓2 3 too low 13 WP User Avatars 20K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 Download Attachments 8K+ · 4.5★ (46) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Pretty Search Permalinks 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 Open Graph 10K+ · 4.3★ (13) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 Markup Markdown 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Pretty Simple Popup Builder 300+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #3 16 too high 20 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 WP Term Images 2K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Pretty RSS Feeds 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 Pretty Sidebar Categories 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 19 too high 24 P Pretty Url 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 8 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.