wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “super editor”
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 “super editor”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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
Super Blank shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 9K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 2144 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #1 2 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #2 3 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #3 ↑2 4 
Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281)
wp.org #4 ↓1 5 
Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056)
wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 
Admin Menu Editor 300K+ · 4.6★ (312)
wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 
Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354)
wp.org #7 8 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461)
wp.org #12 3 too low 10 
Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408)
wp.org #9 1 too high 11 
Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735)
wp.org #17 6 too low 12 
WPIDE – File Manager & Code Editor 40K+ · 4.8★ (306)
wp.org #18 6 too low 13 
Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423)
wp.org #21 ↑3 8 too low 14 
MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435)
wp.org #20 ↓1 6 too low 15 
BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55)
wp.org #13 2 too high 16 
Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869)
wp.org #16 17 
WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1917)
wp.org #22 ↓2 5 too low 18 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 
Super block slider – Image/video background & content slider 8K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews
wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Super Blank 9K+ · 4.5★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #8 12 too high 21 
Super Video player – Fully Customizable Video Player with Playlist 2K+ · 4.2★ (30)
wp.org #15 6 too high 22 
Affiliate Super Assistent 1K+ · 4.6★ (36)
wp.org #23 ↓2 1 too low 23 
Super Advent Calendar 300+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #11 12 too high 24 
Search and Replace for Block Editor 500+ · 4.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #19 ↓1 5 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.