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

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 trackbacks”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks shows at wp.org #4 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ 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

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Remove XML-RPC Methods 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #1 3 too high 5

Disable Comments & Delete All Comments 9K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #7 8

Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #15 7 too low 9

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #22 13 too low 10

Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions 60K+ · 4.7★ (181) wp.org #16 6 too low 11

Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #20 9 too low 12

Disable XML-RPC-API 100K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #10 4 too high 15

WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #14 1 too high 16

Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #13 3 too high 17

SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) host-installed base wp.org #11 6 too high 18

Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #4 14 too high 19

Intranet & Private Site – All-In-One Intranet 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #23 4 too low 20

Advanced Settings 3 200+ · 3.9★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #12 8 too high 21

No Nonsense 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #17 4 too high 22

Simple Disable XML-RPC 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #21 1 too high 23

CodingBunny Database Cleaner 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #18 5 too high 24

WPBulky – WordPress Bulk Edit Post Types 400+ · 3.7★ (3) thin reviews 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.