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← Rankings

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

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 “tree”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Tree-Nation for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #7 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 1525 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CMS Tree Page View – Reorder Pages with a Drag-and-Drop Tree 50K+ · 4.9★ (365) wp.org #1 2 Admin Menu Tree Page View 10K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #2 3 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1125) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 P Page-list 30K+ · 4.7★ (89) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too low 11 Genealogical Tree – Family Tree & Ancestry for WordPress 600+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 W WP-dTree 2K+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 F4 Post Tree 600+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 10 too high 14 Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too low 15 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #22 ↓5 7 too low 16 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #21 ↓6 5 too low 17 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 WP Better Permalinks 1K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #18 ↓5 19 RootsPersona 400+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 FileBird Document Library 5K+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 Menubar 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #20 ↓6 1 too high 22 SEO Optimized Images 10K+ · 4.0★ (27) wp.org #24 ↓6 2 too low 23 Tree-Nation for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #7 ↓1 16 too high 24 AP Family Trees 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑10 10 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.