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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “pro sitemaps”

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

PRO Sitemaps Connect shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 4 Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 XML Sitemap & Google News 100K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #6 7 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #14 ↑2 4 too low 11 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too low 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #22 ↑1 4 too low 19 Sitemap Generator 3K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #18 ↓10 2 too high 21 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 PRO Sitemaps Connect 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 Rapls Sitemap – HTML Sitemap & Post List 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.