Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “term order”

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 “term order”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

P

Ranked above its merit

Post Terms Order – per Post based shows at wp.org #14 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 7 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 3003 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. 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 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce 100K+ · 5.0★ (350) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WP Term Order 6K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Custom Taxonomy Order 50K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) wp.org #6 7 Term Management Tools 10K+ · 4.9★ (76) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3003) wp.org #24 16 too low 9 WP Sort Order 6K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11 Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 WP Term Images 2K+ · 4.6★ (10) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Intuitive Custom Post Order 400K+ · 4.4★ (139) wp.org #20 ↓3 7 too low 14 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Highlight Search Terms 6K+ · 5.0★ (40) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Reorder by Term 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↑1 6 too high 17 Anything Order by Terms 900+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 I Order Terms 1K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Place Order Without Payment for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #23 ↓2 4 too low 20 WP Term Colors 700+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑1 8 too high 21 Vachr Short-Term Rental Reservations 30+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 WP Taxonomy Order 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 P Post Terms Order – per Post based 2K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Reorder Terms 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓2 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.