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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “amp project”

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 “amp project”, 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

Genesis Blocks shows at wp.org #6 but places #11 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 40K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 24 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Slider 3 places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 AMP for WP – Accelerated Mobile Pages 70K+ · 4.4★ (1319) wp.org #1 2 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 AMP 300K+ · 3.8★ (367) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) wp.org #4 5 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too low 6 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #5 ↓2 2 too high 8 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too low 9 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #16 ↓3 6 too low 11 Genesis Blocks 40K+ · 3.7★ (24) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 Specific Content For Mobile – Customize the mobile version without redirections 4K+ · 4.8★ (31) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Shariff Wrapper 30K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #17 ↓3 4 too low 14 Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (34) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 Schema 30K+ · 4.3★ (221) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too low 16 Custom Layouts – Post + Product grids made easy 3K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too high 17 CMB2 300K+ · 5.0★ (91) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #14 ↓3 4 too high 19 WonderPush – Web Push Notifications – WooCommerce Abandoned Cart – GDPR 600+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #22 ↓4 3 too low 20 easy AMP 500+ · 3.6★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓3 5 too high 21 Zestpush – Web Push Notifications 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓4 1 too high 22 SORTD 30+ · 3.8★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓6 1 too low 23 WP Google Street View (with 360° virtual tour) & Google maps + Local SEO 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 Progressive Web App – PWA, Web Push Notifications and Offline Mode 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓2

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.