Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “substack”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 of the top 20. 3 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

Substack Importer shows at wp.org #1 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.8★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 144 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 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too low 2 Leaky Paywall 600+ · 4.2★ (35) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #17 ↓3 14 too low 4 Simple Social Icons 100K+ · 4.3★ (92) wp.org #13 ↓3 9 too low 5 Superb Social Media Share Buttons and Follow Buttons 6K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Feed Embedder for Substack 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 Link in Bio Creator – Social 2K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #19 ↓2 12 too low 8 S Subsync – RSS Sync for Substack 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #18 ↓3 9 too low 10 Substack Importer 1K+ · 2.8★ (4) wp.org #1 9 too high 11 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓3 10 too low 12 TopoSEO Importer for Substack — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Archiiv 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 WPZOOM Addons for Elementor – Starter Templates & Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too low 15 Owldraft Newsletter – Email New Posts to Subscribers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 ShareNivo – Fast Social Sharing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Friendly Content Unlocker (Lite) — Micro-Paywall, Pay Per Post & Content Locker for PayPal — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 ChamaWP – Monetize With Donations, Memberships, Crowdfunding, Commissions & Restricted Content 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 Radical Writes Content Repurposer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓3 5 too high 20 EntrySource Database and UTM Tracker for Contact Form 7 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21 The Grand Athenaeum — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 Decision Widget — Product Quiz Recommendations — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 2 too low 23 Jika.io Stock Market Widgets 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 3 too high 24 SimpleSocial 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.