Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 api”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

WPRaiz Content API Tool shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 70+ 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

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Rich Showcase for Google Reviews 100K+ · 4.9★ (1623) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too high 7 Video Conferencing with Zoom 10K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #8 ↓2 1 too low 8 Download Monitor 80K+ · 4.5★ (525) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Disable Topics API 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↓1 7 too high 10 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #10 ↓2 11 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too low 12 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too high 13 Uncanny Toolkit for LearnDash 20K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #12 ↑3 2 too high 15 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #16 ↓4 1 too low 16 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #23 ↓4 6 too low 18 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓2 5 too low 20 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 too low 21 WebSub (FKA. PubSubHubbub) 100K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 WPRaiz Content API Tool 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓2 9 too high 23 Autocomplete LearnDash Lessons and Topics 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too high 24 GD Security Headers 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #20 4 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.