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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “widget revisions”

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 “widget revisions”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Revision Manager TMC shows at wp.org #9 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP Document Revisions 2K+ · 3.7★ (23) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Widget Content Blocks 10K+ · 4.8★ (60) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 W WP Revisions Control 40K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 The Plus Addons for Elementor – Mega Menu, Header Footer, Post Grid, AI Widgets & Templates 100K+ · 4.6★ (388) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #11 12 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #21 ↓2 9 too low 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #19 ↑1 6 too low 14 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #23 ↓1 8 too low 16 Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 CSS & JavaScript Toolbox 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Super RSS Reader – Add attractive RSS Feed Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Revision Manager TMC 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #9 10 too high 20 Slider Pro 4K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 Secure MCP Server for Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI Agents 8K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Accordion Slider 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) 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.