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

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 permalinks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 4 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

xneelo Helper shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ 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.

Buried gem

SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 369 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #2 3 WPGlobus 8K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 SP Move Login 6K+ · 4.3★ (43) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #14 ↓4 8 too low 7 Event Organiser 20K+ · 4.6★ (140) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #12 ↓3 3 too low 10 SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369) wp.org #20 ↓7 10 too low 11 TrackShip for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #10 ↓3 1 too high 12 Pretty Search Permalinks 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks from WordPress Database 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 ProfileGrid – User Profiles, Groups and Communities 5K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 Uncanny Automator – AI + Automation for WordPress | AI Agent, AI Page Builder, Free AI Usage Included 40K+ · 4.9★ (157) wp.org #24 ↓7 9 too low 16 Remove Special Characters From Permalinks 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 12 too high 17 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Injection Guard 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓5 8 too high 20 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too high 21 SimplyRETS Real Estate IDX 200+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 M Multiple Category Selection Widget 100+ · 2.9★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 xneelo Helper 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑2 14 too high 24 Lightweight Newscast XML Sitemap For Google News 100+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓3 9 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.