Plugin Pulse
← Rankings

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

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 “yml”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

IntentDeep Virtual Files – AI-Ready: Robots.txt, Security.txt, Ads.txt, LLMS.txt shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 20+ 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

BackUpWordPress places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 1373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 YML for Yandex Market 10K+ · 4.8★ (72) wp.org #1 2 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1068) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Import from YML 400+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Market Exporter 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 BackUpWordPress 80K+ · 4.7★ (1373) wp.org #21 16 too low 6 Robokassa payment gateway for Woocommerce 3K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 Panama Product Import for WooCommerce (XML, CSV, YML, Excel) 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #16 8 too low 9 Radio Station by netmix® – Manage and play your Show Schedule in WordPress! 1K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Vaaky Highlighter — Syntax Highlighter, Code Blocks, Line Numbers for Gutenberg 10+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 OpenPix for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 RSS Retriever Lite 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Factorial2000 Catalog Sync for Prom.ua — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 YML Import for Woocommerce 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Kristall Integration Plugin for WordPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 IntentDeep Virtual Files – AI-Ready: Robots.txt, Security.txt, Ads.txt, LLMS.txt 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 WPBetterCodeHighlighting — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 PromPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 D Deploy Webhook Github Actions 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 QuantWP – Side Cart for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Form LOOQ — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 RichAnanas Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 YML Turbo Pages for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 SendThisFile Button 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 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.