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

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 “agreement”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Registration Agreement Checkboxes and/or RODO Agreements shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 60+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 167 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #3 ↓2 1 too low 3 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too high 4 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (102) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too low 9 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too low 10 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #21 ↓3 9 too low 13 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #20 ↑2 7 too low 14 WC Korkmaz Contract – Contracts for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Pay with Vipps and MobilePay for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (13) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too high 16 PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 Legal Pages – Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, and Cookie Notice Generator 8K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #19 ↓2 2 too low 18 A Agreement 100+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too high 19 Additional Terms Lite for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.6★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓4 1 too high 20 Digital Signature For Contact Form 7 5K+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓4 4 too low 21 Advanced Popups 60K+ · 4.0★ (9) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Registration Agreement Checkboxes and/or RODO Agreements 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 17 too high 23 Divine Agreement System 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 Nexi Checkout 2K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 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.