Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rss feed”

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 “rss feed”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Featured Image in RSS Feed by MailerLite shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

W3 Total Cache places #10 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #1 2 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #2 3 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too low 7 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #17 ↑4 10 too low 8 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #11 ↓3 3 too low 9 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #5 ↑5 4 too high 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #24 14 too low 11 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – RexFeed – Sell on 200+ Shopping Channels 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too low 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 A Add Featured Image to RSS Feed 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 too high 14 Import XML and RSS Feeds 2K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too high 15 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #23 ↓6 8 too low 16 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 too low 17 RSS Includes Pages 10K+ · 3.9★ (17) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too high 18 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓3 4 too high 20 Featured Image in RSS Feed by MailerLite 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Admin Dashboard RSS Feed 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Feed Post Thumbnail 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.