Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 links”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Marquee Running Text shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 251 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #3 4 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Text To Speech TTS Accessibility 4K+ · 4.8★ (92) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #8 ↑2 1 too low 8 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #22 ↑1 13 too low 10 Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Search & Replace Everything by WPCode – Find and Replace Media, Text, Links, and More 20K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #17 ↓6 5 too low 13 Easy Affiliate Links 6K+ · 4.2★ (34) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 ResponsiveVoice Text To Speech 7K+ · 3.9★ (34) wp.org #14 ↑2 15 AI Alt Text Generator 2K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Alt Text Tools 800+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too high 19 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 JVM Rich Text Icons 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #20 ↑1 21 Marquee Running Text 5K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #11 ↑2 10 too high 22 Text to Speech – TTSWP 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too high 24 eRecht24 Legal Texts 50K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 6 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.