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

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 title”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Archive Title shows at wp.org #9 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Admin Columns places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1653 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 signals wp.org

Hide Page And Post Title 40K+ · 3.6★ (54) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 I Image Title Remove 1K+ · 4.6★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7507) wp.org #7 4 too low 4

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27819) wp.org #11 ↓1 7 too low 5

MM Title Manager — Hide Page and Post Titles 10K+ · 4.3★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #3 2 too high 6

Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7

Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) thin reviews wp.org #5 2 too high 8

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1258) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9

Unique Title Checker 900+ · 5.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #4 5 too high 10

Admin Columns 100K+ · 4.9★ (1653) wp.org #22 ↓1 11 too low 12

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (422) wp.org #18 ↑4 6 too low 13

Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #15 2 too low 14

WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15

Post Duplicator 200K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #24 ↓1 9 too low 16

Hide/Remove Metadata 20K+ · 3.6★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17

Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #14 3 too high 18

Archive Title 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #9 9 too high 19

List all posts by Authors, nested Categories and Titles 600+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too low 20

Browser Tab Title Reminder 300+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #12 8 too high 21

Customize Private & Protected – Change or remove title prefix and more 400+ · 4.7★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #13 8 too high 22

Remove Widget Title | inventivo 40+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23

Remove layout destroying HTML-Tags 100+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 R Remove Tools Menu 20+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #23 1 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.