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

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 “subpage”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Subpage as Expandable Text Shortcode shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 80+ 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

Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 52 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #1 2 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 GTM Kit – Google Tag Manager & GA4 integration 30K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Auto Submenu 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Page Visits Counter – Lite 5K+ · 4.0★ (7) wp.org #3 ↓1 3 too high 7 Affiliate Super Assistent 1K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #11 ↑1 4 too low 8 Posts and Users Stats 600+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform 1K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too low 10 Bulk menu creator 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 WebMan Amplifier 1K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Geo Redirect 1K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 One-V LLM Serve 10+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 X3P0: Breadcrumbs 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 List Sub Pages 400+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 ES Football Bypass for Cloudflare 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Subpage as Expandable Text Shortcode 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 oik 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Increase average cart value with Cross-Sell – Splendid Sales Booster for WooCommerce 10+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #20 21 Formbricks 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 L List Children 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 BreadcrumbsPress 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 PageOne: AI Blog Writer, Auto Posting and SEO 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.