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← Rankings

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

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 “unlink”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 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

TSO Link Inspector shows at wp.org #11 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #1 2 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Twentig Supercharged Block Editor – Blocks, Patterns, Starter Sites, Portfolio 20K+ · 4.9★ (171) wp.org #6 ↓3 3 too low 4 Broadcast 1K+ · 4.9★ (214) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 EthPress – Web3 Login 90+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 BlogPal AI 30+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↑3 5 too low 9 Social Integration for BlueSky 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too high 10 DevDome Analytics: Bot Traffic vs Human Traffic Website Statistics 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 4 410 Link Unlinker 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Meliconnect 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 Shop 2 API 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 15 SurfLink – Link Manager & Backup Restore 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 TSO Link Inspector 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too high 17 Icon Box Block – Insert your favorite icon with customization and design 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 DevDome Link Monitor: Broken Link Checker, Dead Link Checker, Broken Link Finder 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Watchman Tower 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Garnet Seller 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Linksy Search and Replace 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 ReadyGo Toolkit 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 DevDome Bot Protection: Bot Blocker and AI Crawler Control 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑4 5 too high 24 ContextLift 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.