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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “all orders”

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 “all orders”, 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

PRyC WP/WooCommerce: Edit all orders shows at wp.org #8 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ 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

LiteSpeed Cache places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 2778 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 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #1 2 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #2 3 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Autocomplete WooCommerce Orders 30K+ · 4.6★ (137) wp.org #6 7 WP All Export – Drag & Drop Export to Any Custom CSV, XML & Excel 100K+ · 4.5★ (415) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (588) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #11 1 too low 11 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #12 13 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Phone Orders for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (32) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Pre-Orders for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.5★ (66) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.7★ (337) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 All In One Login 60K+ · 3.6★ (35) wp.org #20 21 Delete All Products for WooCommerce 4K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 WP All Export – Order Export for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #15 7 too high 23 WP All Import – Import Add-On for ACF 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 PRyC WP/WooCommerce: Edit all orders 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 16 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.