wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “1.0”

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 “1.0”, 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

NodeInfo(2) shows at wp.org #13 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 327 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #1 2

Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #2 3

Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #4 1 too low 4

FG Joomla to WordPress 7K+ · 4.7★ (336) wp.org #5 1 too low 5

Payment Plugins Braintree For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (149) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 M Mesmerize Companion 50K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #8 2 too low 7

Snow Monkey Blocks 30K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #3 4 too high 8

Core Rollback 20K+ · 4.7★ (16) thin reviews wp.org #6 2 too high 9

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #18 9 too low 10

Pods Beaver Themer Add-On 8K+ · 5.0★ (35) wp.org #11 1 too low 11

Twenty20 Image Before-After 20K+ · 4.0★ (54) wp.org #12 1 too low 12

SVG Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #10 2 too high 13

Shortcode Redirect 10K+ · 4.3★ (31) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 O One Page Express Companion 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #17 3 too low 15

VK All in One Expansion Unit 100K+ · 4.0★ (7) host-installed base thin reviews wp.org #7 8 too high 16

The Future Is Now 1K+ · 4.7★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #19 3 too low 17 M Materialis Companion 6K+ · 4.7★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #23 6 too low 18

Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) thin reviews wp.org #24 6 too low 19

Gravity Forms CLI Add-On 20K+ · 4.4★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #21 2 too low 20

Sticky Header 2020 600+ · 4.3★ (7) thin reviews wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Remove XML-RPC Methods 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #16 5 too high 22

ElasticPress Debugging Add-On 800+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #14 8 too high 23

Dam Spam 3K+ · 4.3★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #20 3 too high 24

NodeInfo(2) 900+ · 4.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #13 11 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.