Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “yaml”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

CodingBunny LLMs.txt Generator shows at wp.org #10 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 50 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PNG to JPG 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #1 2 Gantry 5 Framework 7K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 WP-DBManager 50K+ · 4.4★ (95) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 Prevent Browser Caching 10K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 Code Block Pro – Beautiful Syntax Highlighting 10K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 Ultimate Markdown – Markdown Editor, Importer, & Exporter 2K+ · 4.0★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 3 too high 8 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 CodeColorer 1K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too low 10 U Urvanov Syntax Highlighter 3K+ · 4.5★ (19) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Static Site Exporter 400+ · 3.5★ (12) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Simple Export to Markdown 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↓4 4 too high 13 RankReady – AI SEO, Schema, llms.txt, AEO and GEO for ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity 500+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #20 ↓3 7 too low 14 Knowledge Base 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 AISignal Markdown Converter 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too low 16 Vaaky Highlighter — Syntax Highlighter, Code Blocks, Line Numbers for Gutenberg 10+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 CodingBunny LLMs.txt Generator 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 7 too high 18 Mescio for Agents 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 YAML Custom Fields — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too high 20 Q QH Markdown Exporter 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 2 too low 21 Rawi MD — Markdown for AI Crawlers 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 ERA Markdown Importer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Markdown Content Negotiator for LLMs 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 IntentDeep Virtual Files – AI-Ready: Robots.txt, Security.txt, Ads.txt, LLMS.txt 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑2 5 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.