Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “topics”

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

Topic SEO Content Optimization Tool shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rich Showcase for Google Reviews places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 1623 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Contact Form 7 10M+ · 4.0★ (2186) wp.org #1 2 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #2 3 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 P Post Comments as bbPress Topics 300+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #3 ↑1 5 too high 9 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 B bbP topic count 300+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 bbp style pack 6K+ · 4.9★ (100) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #23 ↓1 5 too low 19 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Disable Topics API 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 ↓1 10 too high 22 forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) wp.org #22 ↑1 23 Topic SEO Content Optimization Tool 1K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Autocomplete LearnDash Lessons and Topics 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) 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.