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

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 image”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Featured Image in RSS Feed by MailerLite shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 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

Polylang places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. 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 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #2 3 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #3 4 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #4 5 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 Featured Image from URL (FIFU) 60K+ · 4.6★ (264) wp.org #8 ↓3 2 too low 7 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 A Add Featured Image to RSS Feed 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 RSS for Yandex Turbo 20K+ · 4.6★ (145) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #10 ↑7 4 too high 15 Weblizar Pin It Button On Image Hover And Post 10K+ · 4.0★ (64) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Import XML and RSS Feeds 2K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 RSS Enhancements for The Events Calendar 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 19 Featured Image in RSS Feed by MailerLite 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 12 too high 20 RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 RSS Control 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 RSS Retriever Lite 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too high 23 Admin Dashboard RSS Feed 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 R RSS Image Widget 60+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 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.