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

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 “плагин”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Яндекс Доставка (Boxberry) shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

RSS for Yandex Turbo places #3 on merit, 4.6★ from 145 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Zen Feed 400+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #1 2 Robokassa payment gateway for Woocommerce 3K+ · 4.3★ (32) wp.org #2 3 RSS for Yandex Turbo 20K+ · 4.6★ (145) wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 4 RSS for Yandex Zen 4K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 5 EDI – Обмен данными между WooCommerce и 1С 600+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #5 6 Login via Yandex – вход через Яндекс ID 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 7 Market Exporter 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 9 places below merit 8 WebPlus Gateway for LiqPay on WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 9 ARK Related Posts 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 10 ARK HideCommentLinks 100+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 11 ats privacy policy 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 12 Рекламная платформа Native Rent 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 9 places above merit 13 Russian Currency 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 6 places below merit 14 CloudPayments Gateway for WooCommerce 500+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 15 Integration of Bitrix24 with Contact Form 7 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 5 places above merit 16 Prisna YT – Яндекс Переводчик 60+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 17 iikoCloud integration for WooCommerce 60+ · 3.0★ (4) wp.org #17 18 Dolyame Payment gateway 600+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 DashaMail 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 20 Noindex Links 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 21 CACR — заявки с сайта в мессенджер MAX 50+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 22 Yandex Pay and Split 600+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 23 Яндекс Доставка (Boxberry) 400+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 10 places above merit 24 PayKeeper Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 500+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.