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

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 “adapter”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

AcrossAI MCP Manager – WordPress MCP Server & Admin for MCP Adapter, Claude & ChatGPT shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 90+ 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

Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 251 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #10 ↑5 5 too low 6 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too low 7 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #11 ↓3 4 too low 8 MCP Adapter 60K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 VigIA – AI Visibility, Analytics & Control 2K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #13 ↓1 3 too low 11 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #23 ↓3 12 too low 12 Stream – Activity Log & Audit Trail 70K+ · 4.3★ (76) wp.org #21 ↓4 9 too low 13 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #24 ↓6 11 too low 14 GoSMTP – SMTP for WordPress 500K+ · 4.3★ (10) wp.org #9 ↓2 5 too high 15 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓6 1 too high 17 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 18 VidShop – Shoppable Videos for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓4 19 AcrossAI MCP Manager – WordPress MCP Server & Admin for MCP Adapter, Claude & ChatGPT 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 14 too high 20 Albert – Connect AI Assistants to WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 too low 21 F FameTheme Demo Importer 30K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓2 9 too high 22 UCP Adapter For WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓3 8 too high 23 Adapter Gravity Add-On 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓3 7 too high 24 OPcache Reset 500+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓4 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.