Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “short”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

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

kURL – Short URL Manager for YOURLS shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 40+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 ↑3 4 too low 3 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 URL Shortify – Simple and Easy URL Shortener 10K+ · 4.7★ (169) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 30+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #2 8 too high 11 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too high 14 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too high 16 Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 URL Params 8K+ · 5.0★ (37) wp.org #22 ↓5 4 too low 19 LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 Link Shortner 700+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #20 21 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↓2 5 too high 22 Bitly URL Shortener 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓3 4 too high 23 kURL – Short URL Manager for YOURLS 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓2 15 too high 24 Uix Shortcodes 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↑2 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.