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

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 “.obj”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 2 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

3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D shows at wp.org #2 but places #6 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Firelight Lightbox places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 361 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 3D Viewer – Turn Product Pages into Interactive 3D Experiences 9K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #1 2 3DPrint Lite 600+ · 4.8★ (37) wp.org #5 3 too low 3 Admin Search 1K+ · 4.5★ (18) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Easy 3D Viewer 1K+ · 4.1★ (12) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #24 19 too low 6 3D Viewer Block – Bring Your Products to Life with Interactive 3D 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 4 too high 7 WP 3D Thingviewer Lite 100+ · 3.2★ (5) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 3D Viewer – 3D Model Viewer – Augmented Reality – Virtual Try On 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Press3D 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 PrintPrice: STL & 3MF Price Calculator for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 3D Scene Viewer 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 PartWork.ai 3D Viewer – CAD, STEP & STL Files — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Birlo 3D Print Lite for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Modelora – 3D Product & Model Viewer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 1 too high 15 SliceQuote – Instant Quotes for 3D Printing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Immersive Designer – 3D Product Configurator for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 3D Viewer Online 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 P Prodaxis Print Quote — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Quote3D for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 3DPrint – 3D Print Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 ProofCanvas — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 Arashtad 3D Annotation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Arashtad 3D Loader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 3D Model Viewer by Arty 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 4 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.