15 plugins compared · Updated August 2026 · Formatting
Choosing a WordPress plugin for formatting comes down to a few things: whether it is still actively maintained, whether real users rate it well, and whether it does the specific job you need without dragging the rest of the site down.
We ranked 15 plugins using our WPScore, which weighs the user rating (adjusted for how many people actually rated it), how many sites run it, how recently it was updated, and which WordPress version it is tested against. 15 of them have enough public data to be scored; the rest are listed below the ranked block, clearly marked, rather than being given a number we cannot justify.
How this list is funded. Some links here earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not move anything up the list — the order comes from the WPScore, which is calculated from public ratings, install counts and update history. See the method.
At a glance
Control the appearance of WordPress post excerpts
WPScore
Allows post authors to easily add and manage footnotes in posts and pages.
WPScore
Adds useful decoration features to the Gutenberg RichText editor toolbar.
WPScore
Disables the default WordPress option of converting emoticons to image smilies
WPScore
Import Word documents into WordPress while preserving links, lists, formatting, images, tables, and more.
WPScore
Allows post authors to easily add and manage footnotes in posts.
WPScore
Remove empty paragraph and break tags, and optionally disable WordPress automatic formatting (wpautop).
WPScore
Enhance your Gutenberg editor with advanced text formatting options.
WPScore
Prevent WordPress from converting single and double quotation marks into their curly alternatives.
WPScore
Lets you use raw HTML or any other code in your posts. You can also disable smart quotes and other automatic formatting on a per-post basis.
WPScore
Preserve formatting of code for display by preventing its modification by WordPress and other plugins while also retaining whitespace.
WPScore
This plugin remove extra p and br tags from the_content and the_excerpt.
WPScore
Easily disable the default wpautop filter on a post by post basis.
WPScore
Adds a button to the WordPress TinyMCE editor to clear floats.
WPScore
Adjust an image's margins and border with ease in the Visual editor.
WPScore