Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “scholar”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

SimpleSocial shows at wp.org #16 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple Social Icons places #2 on merit, 4.3★ from 92 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Scholar Publications Fetcher 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 2 Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #14 ↓1 12 too low 3 PressForward 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Socicon 200+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #4 5 ShareThis Follow Buttons 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Scholar Sync – Academic Publications & Researcher Profiles 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #15 ↓1 8 too low 8 Dashboard for Pressbooks and H5P 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Scholar Metrics Panels — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Scientific and Interactive Blocks – inseri core 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 (ng)Arab 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Wisdom Journal Manager – Research Paper/Process Management 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Publiton – Auto Publication Updater 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 AcademicCrew — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 DiFlowRin Bibliography Checker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Tamil Thirukural 10+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Valsze Research Profiles for SINTA — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 Daily Bible Verse 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 D DH Press – Digital Humanities Toolkit 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 K Kblog Include 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 K Knowledgeblog Table of Contents — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 SimpleSocial 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too high 23 K Kblog Metadata 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 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.