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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wordpress author”

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 “wordpress author”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Guest Author shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 4228 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 20K+ · 4.9★ (114) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #16 ↓1 9 too low 8 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #14 ↑4 5 too low 10 WordPress Importer 2M+ · 3.1★ (327) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 Guest Author 5K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Author Box WP Lens 900+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 W WP Author Slug 3K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 VK Post Author Display 10K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 D Disable Author Archives 10K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 WP Custom Author URL 5K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Osom Author Pro 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 About Author 200+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Default Post Author 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 2 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.