Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “0.0.1”

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 “0.0.1”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 3 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

BP Add Post Updates to Activity shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gallery Custom Links places #2 on merit, 4.7★ from 208 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 morkva Checkbox Integration 300+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Gallery Custom Links 30K+ · 4.7★ (208) wp.org #17 15 too low 3 Block Editor Colors 3K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Body Class By URL Parameter 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Persian Date 2K+ · 4.5★ (16) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 CDN Enabler 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #18 12 too low 7 Hide Tooltips on Hover – Clean Up Title Attributes Without Losing Accessibility 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Age Gate Lite 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 9 One Tap Google Sign in 800+ · 4.7★ (17) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 Lazy Load Control For Elementor – Remove the Lazy Load attribute from specific images in Elementor 3K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Mu Manager – Manage mu-plugins like standard plugins 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Terminal Block 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 Autoblue 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Ecrypt Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 PlugVersions – Easily roll back to previous versions of your plugins. 1K+ · 4.4★ (8) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Tagloom — Label Designer & Bluetooth Printing for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 10 too high 17 L Luzuk Photo Gallery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Ads.txt and App-Ads.txt – AdEnergizer 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Aspect Accordions – With Tailwind — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Frontype | Select a custom post type as a front page 300+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #20 21 Block List Updater 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 BP Add Post Updates to Activity 20+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 SmartFormat feed for SmartNews 1K+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Currency Switcher for WooCommerce 700+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.