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

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

A

Ranked above its merit

Alphabetical Pagination shows at wp.org #1 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 358 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 Product Filter for WooCommerce by WBW 50K+ · 4.8★ (325) wp.org #3 ↑3 2 too low 2 Extra Product Sorting Options for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.6★ (31) wp.org #2 3 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too low 4 Table of Contents Plus – Automatic Table of Contents for Posts & Pages 200K+ · 4.5★ (187) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (452) wp.org #6 ↓5 1 too low 6 WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490) wp.org #10 ↓3 4 too low 7 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 PublishPress Tag Groups: Stylish Displays For Your Tags and Categories 3K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Echo Knowledge Base – Documentation, FAQs, Chat & Smart Search 10K+ · 4.9★ (124) wp.org #17 ↑3 8 too low 10 BetterDocs – AI Documentation, Knowledge Base, MCP Server, Docs, Wikis, FAQ & Chatbot 30K+ · 4.8★ (515) wp.org #20 ↓3 10 too low 11 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 CM Tooltip Glossary 7K+ · 4.3★ (157) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too low 13 Flex Posts – Responsive Posts Block 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #13 14 Bricks Navigator 8K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #14 15 Logo Showcase Ultimate – Logo Carousel, Logo Slider & Logo Grid 2K+ · 4.7★ (27) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Advanced Query Loop 6K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #18 ↓2 2 too low 17 JetFormBuilder — Dynamic Blocks Form Builder 80K+ · 4.2★ (72) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 A Alphabetical Pagination 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #1 ↑2 17 too high 19 Heroic Glossary – Block for building Glossaries, Dictionaries and more 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Essential Content Types 20K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21 Admin Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 A A-2-Z Alphabetical Archive Links 40+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Endless Posts Navigation 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Alphabetical Tags List — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.