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

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 “slugs”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Ailo – AI Slug Translator shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 12 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 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 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too low 2 Pinyin Slugs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Smart User Slug Hider 2K+ · 4.9★ (55) wp.org #3 4 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too low 5 Slugs Manager: Delete Old Permalinks from WordPress Database 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #11 ↓3 5 too low 7 Admin Slug Column 5K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8 Cyr-To-Lat 300K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too low 10 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 ↓1 6 too low 11 Cyrlitera – Transliteration of Links and File Names 40K+ · 4.6★ (62) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too high 12 Loginizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1033) wp.org #12 ↑2 13 Ailo – AI Slug Translator 1K+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #6 ↓4 7 too high 14 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #13 ↑8 1 too high 15 Cyr to Lat Enhanced 80K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #10 ↓1 6 too high 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #17 ↓6 18 Edit Author Slug 100K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Cyr to Lat Reloaded – Transliteration of Links and File Names 30K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 Slug Automator 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Cyrillic Permalinks 200+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too high 24 Slug Search and Admin Columns 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.