wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “wp tab”
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 tab”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20. 6 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
Simple Side Tab shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 22 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209)
wp.org #1 2 
WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #3 ↑3 4 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 
WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617)
wp.org #6 ↓4 7 
WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758)
wp.org #7 ↑9 1 too high 9 
WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138)
wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 
Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce & WordPress Tabs Builder – Smart Tabs 10K+ · 4.9★ (134)
wp.org #10 ↓3 11 
WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167)
wp.org #9 2 too high 12 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #14 ↑8 2 too low 13 
WP Mail Logging 300K+ · 4.7★ (375)
wp.org #13 ↑1 14 
WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966)
wp.org #19 5 too low 15 
SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267)
wp.org #23 8 too low 16 
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint
wp.org #15 1 too high 17 
WP Job Manager 70K+ · 4.4★ (237)
wp.org #18 ↓3 1 too low 18 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too high 19 
WP Chat App 100K+ · 4.9★ (222)
wp.org #24 5 too low 20 
WP-PostRatings 20K+ · 4.4★ (178)
wp.org #20 ↓8 21 
Index WP MySQL For Speed 50K+ · 4.8★ (99) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Simple Side Tab 10K+ · 4.8★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 
WP Migrate Lite – Migration Made Easy 200K+ · 4.2★ (318) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 
Floating Side Tab 600+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #21 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.