Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “verses”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Popularis Extra shows at wp.org #5 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Daily Prayer Time places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 96 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Bible Verse of the Day 3K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #1 2 Logos Reftagger 10K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Daily Prayer Time 1K+ · 4.9★ (96) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Quran multilanguage Text & Audio 400+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Visual Bible Verse of the Day Widget 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 BibleLink Multilingual 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Verse of the Day Widget for WP 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑1 3 too high 8 ESV CrossReference Tool 500+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Link To Bible 100+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Cryptocurrency Payment Gateway 400+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Search & Replace Text in Blocks 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #21 ↑3 10 too low 12 Popularis Extra 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 7 too high 13 MRW Simplified Editor 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 Bible SuperSearch 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 The Word Widget 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 6 too high 17 QuoteFrameShare – Beautiful Blockquotes with Citation, Copy & Social Share 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↓1 6 too low 18 Verse of the Day 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 VerseLinker 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Bible Verse Tooltips – Prodigal Verse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 PrimeBible Verse Preview 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 PrayTime.me Bible Verses — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Literal Word BibleTagger 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓1 4 too high 24 BibleAsk – Verse Tooltip — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 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.