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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “text expand”

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 “text expand”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Read More Button – Expand Content Without Refresh shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ 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

Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 418 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too low 2 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Text Unfold For Elementor 3K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 LiveChat – Live Chat Plugin for WP Websites 10K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #17 ↓3 10 too low 8 Live Chat Plugin for WooCommerce – LiveChat 900+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Read More Without Refresh 20K+ · 4.2★ (55) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too low 10 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Ultimate Blocks – 25+ Gutenberg Blocks for Block Editor 50K+ · 4.9★ (729) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Modern Footnotes 6K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #12 13 OoohBoi Steroids for Elementor 40K+ · 4.8★ (118) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #22 ↓2 8 too low 15 Screen Reader Accessibility – WCAG, Text-to-Speech & AI Accessibility Fixes 600+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too low 16 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓7 2 too low 19 Easy Expand 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 8 too high 20 Read More Button – Expand Content Without Refresh 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑3 14 too high 21 RobArt Text Collector 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 Simple Expand – Lightweight Read more toggle 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑5 8 too high 23 Text Prompter – Unlimited chatgpt text prompts for openai tasks 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 MarqueeAll – Elementor Marquee for Image, Text, Post Grid, Testimonial, Cryptocurrency, Faqs & News Ticker 🌀 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 8 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.