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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “relative path”

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 “relative path”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20.

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

Digi Eye Redirects shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ 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

404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 321 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Make Paths Relative 2K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Safe Redirect Manager 40K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Fast Velocity Minify 30K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too low 7 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 Go Live Update Urls 90K+ · 4.5★ (59) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Export/Import Media – CSV Media Library Import & Export 1K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 CoolClock 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 C Custom Upload Dir 5K+ · 4.4★ (25) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Media Library Tools – AI-Powered Rename, Clean & CSV Import/Export 2K+ · 4.7★ (14) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 B Basic URL ShortCodes 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 9 too high 16 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 9 too high 17 B Boxy WooCommerce Custom Redirect After Checkout 500+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Presswell Art Direction 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Digi Eye Redirects 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 JSM file_get_contents() Shortcode 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Laposta WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Markdown for Agents and Statistics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 BKoding – Orphan Page Finder 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Nota Backup & Restore – WordPress Backup, Migration & Clone 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.