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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “action network”

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 “action network”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 6 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

Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress shows at wp.org #1 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ 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

UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 8706 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 wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Migrate Guru – Site Migration & Cloning 200K+ · 4.9★ (1645) wp.org #10 ↓4 5 too low 6 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too low 9 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too low 10 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #16 ↑3 3 too low 14 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #24 ↓3 10 too low 15 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #20 ↑4 5 too low 16 Organizers Embed – Action Network for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 15 too high 17 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #21 ↓9 4 too low 18 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #17 ↓3 1 too high 19 Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #23 ↓8 3 too low 21 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too high 22 WP Multi Network 100+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #8 14 too high 23 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #15 ↑8 8 too high 24 affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) wp.org #12 ↓1 12 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.