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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove description”

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 “remove description”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 3 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

Category Description for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 380 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 Remove Uppercase Accents 8K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Remove CPT base 10K+ · 5.0★ (33) wp.org #6 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #10 ↑3 3 too low 8 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #17 ↓2 9 too low 9 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #14 ↑3 3 too low 12 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #22 ↑2 10 too low 13 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #21 ↓1 8 too low 14 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Remove Taxonomy URL 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks from WordPress Database 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too high 17 Remove XML-RPC Methods 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Category Description for WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 14 too high 19 Remove tabs and fields from WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too high 20 MMWD Remove Add To Cart for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 TP Product Description in Loop for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 Description List Block 400+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 11 too high 24 Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↑2 4 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.