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← Rankings

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

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 reader”, we agree with wp.org 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

RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 515 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 wp.org
1 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #1 2 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #2 3 Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More 20K+ · 4.3★ (113) wp.org #3 4 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds 20K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #7 8 A Add Featured Image to RSS Feed 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #18 ↑4 9 too low 10 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #21 ↓4 11 too low 11 AWP Classifieds 3K+ · 4.6★ (301) wp.org #14 ↑1 3 too low 12 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 M Chart 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Dark Reader – Beautiful Dark Mode for any Website 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Friends 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 17 Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too low 18 RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 WPeMatico RSS Feed Reader 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑1 9 too high 20 Pretty RSS Feeds 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 RSS llama 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 STI RSS Feed Reader 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 S Subsync – RSS Sync for Substack 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 R RSS Feed Checker 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↑1 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.