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

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 “years”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode shows at wp.org #7 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #2 ↑4 1 too high 4 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #11 ↓1 6 too low 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #4 ↓2 3 too high 8 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #9 ↑6 1 too low 9 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #15 ↑3 6 too low 10 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 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 #22 ↓9 11 too low 12 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Years Ago Today 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 ↓2 8 too high 14 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #17 3 too low 15 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #21 ↑2 6 too low 16 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Better Search Replace 1M+ · 4.3★ (546) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Dynamic Year Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #7 12 too high 20 Custom Permalinks 100K+ · 4.1★ (116) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Year Make Model Search for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too high 22 Current Year Shortcode VICT 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓1 12 too high 23 Dynamic Copyright Year 800+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑2 9 too high 24 Dynamic Copyright Year Customizer 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 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.