Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “shortening”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

utm.codes shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 400+ 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

Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 523 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 XPoster – Share to Bluesky and Mastodon 10K+ · 3.8★ (69) wp.org #3 4 ShortLinks Pro – Affiliate Links, Link Shortening, Click Tracking & Marketing 100+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 WSMS (formerly WP SMS): SMS and OTP for WordPress and WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.1★ (107) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 WP Tripadvisor Review Widgets 20K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share 100K+ · 4.8★ (523) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #11 12 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Social Rocket – Social Sharing Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 Melapress Login Security 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #14 15 Social Snap — Social Share Buttons & Click to Tweet 10K+ · 4.2★ (58) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Widgets for Amazon Reviews 2K+ · 4.0★ (45) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 utm.codes 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 NotifSMS – SMS Notifications OTP & 2FA for WordPress & WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.4★ (18) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Widgets for Thumbtack Reviews 900+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Widgets for Ebay Reviews 500+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Widgets for Expedia Reviews 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 kURL – Short URL Manager for YOURLS 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Widgets for Zillow Reviews 300+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #21 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.