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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rss 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 “rss shortcode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

RSS Feed Pro shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. 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 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #3 4 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #10 ↑8 5 too low 6 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 ↓1 2 too low 7 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 too high 10 WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237) wp.org #15 ↑2 4 too low 12 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #13 ↑3 1 too low 13 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #20 ↑1 6 too low 15 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #16 ↓3 17 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 HTML5 Audio Player – The Ultimate No-Code Podcast, MP3 & Audio Player 10K+ · 4.6★ (169) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 WP Top News — Build a Complete News Portal in WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓12 22 CryptX 10K+ · 4.5★ (20) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 DaazSync – RSS News Aggregator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 RSS llama 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 6 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.