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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “2016”

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 “2016”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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

IS-theme-companion shows at wp.org #9 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 1K+ 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.

Buried gem

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #1 2 Video Popup – Video Lightbox for YouTube, Vimeo & MP4 10K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #2 3 Shariff Wrapper 30K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Bold Page Builder 40K+ · 3.6★ (66) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Automatic Featured Images from Videos 7K+ · 4.6★ (36) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 WP Sticky Sidebar – Floating Sidebar On Scroll for Any Theme 10K+ · 4.9★ (153) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Taxonomy Switcher 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Photonic Gallery & Lightbox for Flickr, SmugMug & Others 10K+ · 4.8★ (193) wp.org #13 ↑6 5 too low 9 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 Timetable and Event Schedule by MotoPress 30K+ · 4.3★ (69) wp.org #18 ↓1 6 too low 13 Most And Least Read Posts Widget 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 ATUM WooCommerce Inventory Management and Stock Tracking 10K+ · 4.7★ (128) wp.org #19 ↓4 5 too low 15 Ocean Extra 400K+ · 3.3★ (67) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 flowpaper 10K+ · 3.4★ (38) wp.org #22 ↑1 6 too low 17 Stratum Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #21 4 too low 18 Simple Slider Block – Create Sliders From Core Blocks 600+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 S SpiceBox 20K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Dynamics 365 Integration 500+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Rara One Click Demo Import 20K+ · 2.7★ (7) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Themebeez Toolkit 9K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 IS-theme-companion 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 14 too high 24 Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.