Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “symlink”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

SMNTCS Show Symlinked Plugins shows at wp.org #3 but places #7 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 1569 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 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Easy Symlinks 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Redis 9K+ · 4.7★ (20) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1569) wp.org #16 ↓6 12 too low 5 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #15 ↓1 10 too low 6 GrabWP Tenancy 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 SMNTCS Show Symlinked Plugins 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Interaktiv Security Scanner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Traffic Jammer 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Titanium Compatibility Control – Rollback, Download & Update History 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Web Studio Šime – Sidrena cijena HR Web 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Owl Security 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 SiteAgent for Aura 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 AnyWareX Debug Switch — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Digiter Migration Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 H H3SEC Guard – Security Hardening — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17 Mihanz Site Migration and Backup — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 itdatex Sync Gate — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 CacheNova – Auto Clear Cache, Browser Cache & Database Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 Flex Explorer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 BackupBridge – Free Backup & Migration — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓5 1 too low 22 Thisismyurl Dashboard Notice Control — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓4 1 too low 23 PMS Performance Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 Secured WP — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 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.