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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “点击验证”

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 “点击验证”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

Ranked above its merit

Wenprise Alipay Gateway For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #13 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 700+ 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.

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 W WPJAM Basic 4K+ · 3.8★ (32) wp.org #1 2 胖鼠采集(Fat Rat Collect) 800+ · 4.7★ (46) wp.org #3 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 3 站长帮 – WordPress CDN 缓存管理插件 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 4 [凹凸曼]中文验证码 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 5 Mimi Captcha 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 6 WIDEO视频播放器 100+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #24 wp.org ranks it 18 places below merit 7 Smart Keywords Tool – 智能关键词插件 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 8 多合一搜索自动推送管理插件-支持Baidu/Google/Bing/IndexNow/Yandex/头条 2K+ · 2.6★ (5) wp.org #8 9 SEO合集(支持百度/Google/Bing/GEO优化) 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 10 IMGspider – 图片采集抓取插件 2K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #14 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 11 [凹凸曼]自动同步七牛云对象存储KODO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 2 places above merit 12 果果推送 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 wp.org ranks it 4 places below merit 13 隐藏内容 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 3 places above merit 14 Wenprise WeChatPay Payment Gateway For WooCommerce 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 15 S Seoceo Reward & Share Poster (打赏分享海报插件) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 16 advert广告 — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 17 HotSpot AI 热点创作 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 wp.org ranks it 5 places below merit 18 WP VK-付费内容插件(付费阅读/资料/工具软件资源管理) 70+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #18 19 WeChat微信公众号关键词回复 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 20 Wenprise Alipay Gateway For WooCommerce 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 7 places above merit 21 TAG / Keyword内链 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 22 Traffic/Crawler网站蜘蛛/访客记录 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 23 PufferGo | 外贸独立站AI建站专家 | AI Website Builder for Export — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Feng Custom 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 wp.org ranks it 5 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.