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

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 “alex”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

Buy Me a Coffee – Button and Widget Plugin shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.8★ average from 18 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 640 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #1 2 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #2 3 Regenerate Thumbnails 1M+ · 4.6★ (396) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Alex Reservations – Restaurant Reservations, Tables & White-Label Booking System 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too low 6 User Access Manager 10K+ · 4.4★ (112) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Google Authenticator 20K+ · 4.3★ (135) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #11 ↓1 2 too low 10 Optimole – Optimize Images | Convert WebP & AVIF | CDN & Lazy Load | Image Optimization 200K+ · 4.7★ (640) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 S SyntaxHighlighter Evolved 20K+ · 4.3★ (86) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Alex Player 200+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #3 ↑12 9 too high 13 WP Accessibility Helper (WAH) 10K+ · 4.7★ (57) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 M Mesmerize Companion 50K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 WP-Memory-Usage 10K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Footnotes Made Easy 2K+ · 4.6★ (40) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Geo Mashup 1K+ · 4.7★ (33) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 B Blue Captcha 400+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 O One Page Express Companion 10K+ · 4.7★ (11) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too high 21 Buy Me a Coffee – Button and Widget Plugin 6K+ · 3.8★ (18) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 too high 22 Friends 900+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 WP-Note 2019 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.