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

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 subtitle”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

WP Counter Up – Animated Number Counter & Milestone Showcase shows at wp.org #9 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 142 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 WP Subtitle 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #1 2 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 AI-Powered Carousel, Slider, Video & Photo Gallery Blocks by WP Carousel 60K+ · 4.7★ (434) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 K KIA Subtitle 7K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 WP Data Access – App Builder for Tables, Forms, Dashboards, Charts & Maps 10K+ · 4.9★ (88) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Logo Slider WP – Responsive Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery & Logo Showcase 10K+ · 4.5★ (61) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer 90K+ · 4.5★ (142) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 EmailKit – Email Customizer for WooCommerce & WP 70K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Responsive Pricing Table 10K+ · 4.6★ (91) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 WP Customer Area 10K+ · 4.0★ (89) wp.org #12 13 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 Masteriyo LMS – LMS Course Builder, Quizzes & Certificates 6K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 CP Media Player – Audio Player and Video Player 3K+ · 4.4★ (46) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Advanced Shipping Rates for WooCommerce: Flexible Table Rate Shipping Rules 2K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 MaxSlider 6K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 WP Helper Premium 1K+ · 3.6★ (8) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 WP Counter Up – Animated Number Counter & Milestone Showcase 1K+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 Mobile Smart App Banner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 A WP Life Companion 6K+ · 0.0★ (0) 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.