wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “rte”

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 “rte”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 6 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

Paulo Cezario – RTE Rodonaves shipping for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #5 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20+ 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4

GPX Route Map 100+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #1 3 too high 5

FoundationTables 10+ · 5.0★ (3) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 R RTE Comments 10+ · 4.8★ (5) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9

Fusion Page Builder : Extension – Gallery 600+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10

Rich Text Editor 50+ · 3.2★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11

Paulo Cezario – RTE Rodonaves shipping for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviewslow rating, top placementstale but ranked wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12

HTML Special Characters Helper 200+ · 5.0★ (3) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13

Mapthread 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 S Subpage Listing 100+ · 3.8★ (4) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15

Fusion Page Builder : Extension – Map 200+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16

SV Gravity Forms Enhancer 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17

Fusion Page Builder : Extension – Menu 300+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too high 18

Fusion Page Builder : Extension – Button 400+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 W WP-Routes Plugin 100+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 A annouoncement 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #20 ↓1 21 A Amazon Widgets Shortcodes 30+ · 1.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #21 ↓1

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.