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← Rankings

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

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 widget”, 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

Admin Dashboard RSS Feed shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 500+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #12 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 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 RSS Aggregator by Feedzy – Feed to Post, Autoblogging, News & YouTube Video Feeds Aggregator 40K+ · 4.6★ (361) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #9 ↑4 3 too low 7 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 RSS Feed Widget 2K+ · 3.9★ (26) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #12 ↑11 2 too low 11 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #19 ↓1 8 too low 12 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 VS Event List 8K+ · 4.9★ (82) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #17 ↓2 2 too low 16 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #22 ↓2 6 too low 17 Social Media Icon Widget – Social Profile Links with Gutenberg Block 4K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 W Widget Output Cache 200+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Taggbox: Social Media Feed Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 RSS Feed Pro 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Most And Least Read Posts Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Candy Social Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Admin Dashboard RSS Feed 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 15 too high 24 R RSS Image Widget 60+ · 3.0★ (2) 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.