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

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 plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 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

GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 716 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #1 2 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #2 3 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 List Custom Taxonomy Widget 8K+ · 4.7★ (21) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #9 ↑6 4 too low 6 Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Related Posts by Taxonomy 10K+ · 4.8★ (77) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #12 ↓2 3 too low 10 Taxonomy Switcher 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory 10K+ · 4.8★ (716) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #19 5 too low 15 WP Maps – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Mapbox, Store Locator with Search, Filters & Listings 60K+ · 4.3★ (122) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 MB Custom Post Types & Custom Taxonomies 10K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Term Taxonomy Converter 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 S Simple Taxonomy Refreshed 400+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 WP Taxonomy Order 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 MDTF – Meta Data and Taxonomies Filter 900+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 Remove Taxonomy URL 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too high 22 Advanced Category and Custom Taxonomy Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 WP Taxonomy Manager 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too high 24 Taxonomy Tags to Checkboxes 700+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.