wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “taxonomy list shortcode”

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 “taxonomy list shortcode”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

WP Taxonomy Manager shows at wp.org #10 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ 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

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) places #11 on merit, 5.0★ from 423 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

List category posts 80K+ · 4.7★ (254) wp.org #1 2

W4 Post List 3K+ · 4.7★ (94) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #2 2 too high 5

PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Shortcodes Ultimate – Content Elements 400K+ · 4.9★ (5925) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #7 ↑5 8

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10

Media Library Assistant 70K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #15 5 too low 11

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #18 ↓1 7 too low 12

Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #13 ↑6 1 too low 13

Latest Post Shortcode 4K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14

The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #22 7 too low 16

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #20 4 too low 17

JS Archive List 3K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #21 4 too low 18

Contact List – Online Staff Directory & Address Book 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #16 2 too high 19 S Simple Taxonomy Refreshed 400+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓1 11 too high 20

JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21

Advanced Category and Custom Taxonomy Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22

MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter 900+ · 4.5★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 2 too low 23

WP Taxonomy Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 ↑1 13 too high 24

Post List Designer – Category Post, Recent Post, Post List 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) 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.