Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “refresh”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ 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

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Force Refresh 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Merge + Minify + Refresh 3K+ · 4.2★ (68) wp.org #4 5 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #14 9 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #23 16 too low 8 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Ajaxify Comments – Ajax and Lazy Loading Comments 3K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 Image Refresh 900+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #18 ↓4 6 too low 13 Live Auto Refresh (Hot Reload / Live Reload for WordPress Developers) 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 Random Post on Refresh 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 D DS CF7 Math Captcha 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Tripzzy – Travel Engine System 100+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #22 ↓5 4 too low 19 Auto Refresh Post & Page 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 13 too high 20 Easy Auto Reload – Auto Refresh 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 15 too high 21 One Stop Shop for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Ad Refresh Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Read More Button – Expand Content Without Refresh 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24 OrderPulse: Auto Refresh Orders for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑6 12 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.