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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “amazon s3”

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 “amazon s3”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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.

Ranked above its merit

Storage for Woo via S3-Compatible shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 441 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) wp.org #1 2 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #2 3 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Backup Migration 80K+ · 4.9★ (1338) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WP STAGING – Backups & Restore, Migration & Clone Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups 100K+ · 4.8★ (2470) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too low 6 WP Offload Media Lite for Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, and Google Cloud Storage 30K+ · 3.7★ (115) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Backuply – Backup, Restore, Migrate and Clone 600K+ · 4.5★ (135) wp.org #6 ↑2 1 too high 8 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #14 ↓3 6 too low 9 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #9 ↑1 10 Advanced Media Offloader – Offload Media to Amazon S3, Cloudflare R2, DigitalOcean Spaces & More 7K+ · 4.7★ (48) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too low 13 JetBackup – Backup, Restore & Migrate 200K+ · 4.5★ (1056) wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14 Total Upkeep – WordPress Backup Plugin plus Restore & Migrate by BoldGrid 40K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 WP Database Backup – Unlimited Database & Files Backup by Backup for WP 20K+ · 4.5★ (102) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 Drag and Drop Multiple File Upload for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (94) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Inline Image Upload for BBPress 3K+ · 4.6★ (65) wp.org #22 ↓1 5 too low 18 Royal WordPress Backup, Restore & Migration Plugin – Backup WordPress Sites Safely 30K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↑5 8 too high 19 Media Cloud Sync 1K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Cloud Storage Manager for Fluent Forms – Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, S3 Uploads 400+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 WebToffee WP Backup and Migration 5K+ · 4.5★ (49) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Offload Media – Cloud Storage 1K+ · 4.4★ (18) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Storage for Woo via S3-Compatible 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 too high 24 S3 Image Optimizer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓3 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.