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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “メール”

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 “メール”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 1 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

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 PDF Invoice Japan for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 2 CloudSecure WP Security 100K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 3 Formzu WP 3K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 4 FormNest – 日本語対応フォームビルダー 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 5 blanc Honeypot for Contact Form 7 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 6 O Online Lesson Booking 500+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 7 Plugear Review Step for Contact Form 7 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 8 GoQMieruca 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 9 SOHO SMTP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 10 E e-shopsカート2 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 Nova Jyo Inquiry for Contact Form 7 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 12 FormToSS-フォムトス- | Contact Form 7 と スプレッドシート(スプシ)の連携をノーコードで! 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 Unomoon Form — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 SPIRAL Connector for Contact Form 7 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 Faro Qualified Invoice Number for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 Hosuke for Welcart — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 Invoice Watch Japan — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 Value-Auth Two Factor and Access Control 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Redkirin Ad Click Verification 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 Faro Receipt & Invoice PDF for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 ZA-ONE Site Watch — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Shed Form — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Fail2Notify — Mail Failure Alerts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Keitai Emoji — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.