Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “alerting”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Manage – Centralized site maintenance and monitoring shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 5039 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 Einsatzverwaltung 1K+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Quttera ThreatSign – Web Malware Scanner for WordPress 10K+ · 3.9★ (47) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #23 ↑1 18 too low 6 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #10 ↑2 4 too low 7 BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #1 ↑2 6 too high 8 MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Plugin Memory Usage 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 Contributor Notifications 80+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 Old Post Notice 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑2 2 too low 12 PromPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Autoload Cleaner & Analyser 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too low 14 Content Reminder 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too high 15 PowerSEC – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Login Security & Backup 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑2 1 too high 16 Z UpTime by Zubbin – Uptime & Site Health Monitoring — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 T Thessley Security Hardening — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 Malroot Security 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 FirePhage Security 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 FatalGuard – PHP Error Log Viewer, Debug Log & Fatal Error Alerts 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Royal AI Firewall 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 CartShark Security — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 PushSync – API Product Sync Any Site For WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Manage – Centralized site maintenance and monitoring 100K+ · 2.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 17 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.