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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “schema injection”

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 “schema injection”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Kabook Auto Schema & Accordion for Rank Math shows at wp.org #4 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 20+ 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

OG — Better Share on Social Media places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 216 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #9 ↓4 6 too low 4 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too high 8 ReviewX – Multi-Criteria Reviews for WooCommerce with Google Reviews & Schema 6K+ · 4.5★ (85) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #18 ↓1 9 too low 10 WPGraphQL 30K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Schema Scalpel 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 Easy Table of Contents 600K+ · 4.4★ (221) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #17 ↓2 3 too low 15 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #20 ↓1 5 too low 16 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 WP EXtra – One Click Optimize 6K+ · 4.9★ (41) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 WSP MCP – Free MCP Plugin for WordPress: Connect Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑7 2 too high 19 Kabook Auto Schema & Accordion for Rank Math 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 Sekhlo Schema Code 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Newsroom OS – Google Discover, Google News, Schema & Editorial Workflow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 AIFORYA Schema Markup 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Schema Gallery 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Schema Markup Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.