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← Rankings

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

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 “tagline”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Dynamic Tags for Elementor shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 226 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #1 2 Logo Carousel – Responsive Logo Slider, Logo Showcase, and Clients Logo Gallery 20K+ · 4.7★ (162) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #5 6 OG — Better Share on Social Media 20K+ · 4.8★ (216) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 HappyAddons for Elementor – 160 Elementor Widgets, GSAP Animations & Templates 400K+ · 4.8★ (489) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #15 ↓6 6 too low 10 BNE Testimonials 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #10 11 Social Preview and Open Graph Tags 50K+ · 4.6★ (122) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 WPGlobus 8K+ · 4.5★ (228) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 EleSpare – News, Magazine and Blog Addons for Elementor 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WSP MCP – Free MCP Plugin for WordPress: Connect Claude, ChatGPT & AI Agents 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑4 7 too high 17 Multilanguage by BestWebSoft – WordPress Translation Plugin and Language Switcher 3K+ · 3.8★ (92) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Sina Extension for Elementor 40K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Pure Metafields 10K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Slider Block by Sliderberg – Slider & Carousel Plugin for Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Dynamic Tags for Elementor 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↑1 8 too high 22 Multisite Site Index 100+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 News Kit Addons For Elementor 3K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 YLabs AI Site Manager with ChatGPT and Claude 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.