wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “reviews shortcode”

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 “reviews shortcode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Embedder for Google Reviews shows at wp.org #12 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Google Review Slider places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #2 3

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #4 ↓1 5

Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #5 6

Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 W WP Customer Reviews 20K+ · 4.3★ (528) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8

WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) wp.org #8 ↓1 9

WP Social Ninja – Embed Social Feeds, User Reviews & Chat Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #7 ↑5 2 too high 10

Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #6 4 too high 11

Revopic – Photo Reviews for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #11 ↓2 12

WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #21 ↓1 9 too low 13

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #22 9 too low 14

Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #14 ↑1 15

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #17 ↓7 2 too low 16

WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17

Customer Reviews Collector for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.7★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18

Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑1 6 too high 19

TWB Woocommerce Reviews 600+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20

Five Star Restaurant Reviews 400+ · 4.9★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21

Reviews Plus 1K+ · 4.4★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22

Widgets for Google Reviews and Ratings 3K+ · 4.2★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #16 6 too high 23

WP Ultimate Review 60K+ · 3.4★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24

Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓2 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.