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

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 “syndication”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

RESTful Content Syndication shows at wp.org #3 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 70+ 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

SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 51 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #6 5 too low 2 Syndication 90+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Hide Posts 20K+ · 4.7★ (22) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Syndication Links 300+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Broadcast 1K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 F FeedWordPress 8K+ · 4.2★ (61) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Houzez Property Feed 1K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Share on Mastodon 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 ChannelSale – Sell & Grow Across Marketplaces, Sales Channels & AI Commerce 20+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #22 12 too low 11 Changelog as a Service – Publish, Display, and Communicate Beautiful Changelogs 10+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 SmartFrame Images 90+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Product Reviews & Photo Reviews for WooCommerce – Yuko 100+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Social Integration for BlueSky 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Micropub 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 RESTful Content Syndication 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 13 too high 17 JSON Feed (jsonfeed.org) 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 I IndieBlocks 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 RSS Chimp – Add Featured Images to WP RSS Feeds (Mailchimp, Google News, Feedly) 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 11 too high 20 Revive To Sky – Post old content to Bluesky 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 FeedCentral Connector 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 Post Forwarder 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 The Tribal Plugin 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Juiz Lang Attribute 1K+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #24

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.