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

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

Pdf Embed shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #1 2 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #2 3 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #3 4 Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #4 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too low 6 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #7 ↑6 1 too low 7 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #12 ↑9 4 too low 9 PDF Ink Lite – Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection 2K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #9 ↓4 10 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #18 ↓6 7 too low 12 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 WP Event Manager – Events Calendar, Registrations, Sell Tickets with WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.0★ (249) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 Fluent PDF Generator 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 ↑1 10 too high 16 PDF Generator for WordPress 1K+ · 4.6★ (39) wp.org #8 ↑1 8 too high 17 File Manager 1M+ · 4.6★ (1492) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 WP Travel Engine – Tour Booking Plugin – Tour Operator Software 20K+ · 4.9★ (594) wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 Pdf Embed 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 ↑1 13 too high 20 Cart PDF for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (26) wp.org #17 ↓3 3 too high 21 Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce – Challan 7K+ · 4.6★ (47) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 PDF Forms Filler for CF7 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓4 8 too high 24 PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 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.