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

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 “apostrophe”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20.

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

Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual shows at wp.org #7 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 Wonder PDF Embed 8K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #3 4 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #16 12 too low 5 Automated FedEx live/manual rates with shipping labels – HPOS supported 200+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #5 6 SpeakOut! Email Petitions 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #20 13 too low 8 R Raw HTML 10K+ · 4.3★ (33) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Automated UPS Shipping for WooCommerce – HPOS supported 100+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Consistency – Typography Corrector for Gutenberg 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 KooKoa Folders – Media Library Folders & File Organizer 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 Ukrainian Cyrillic to Latin by OSTG 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Tranzly™ – AI Translation & Multilingual 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 Lytera UA LAT 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑5 2 too high 15 Regex Validation for Gravity Forms 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 Automated DB Schenker Shipping – HPOS supported 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Fattami Reading Time — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 18 CatCode Smart Search for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 19 Controller Fields for Contact Form 7 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 ConnectSphere 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑2 1 too high 21 Smart Image SEO – Auto Alt Text Generator & Bulk Image Optimizer 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 C CitedBy SEO Fields — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 D Daily Picks CSV Export — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 PostFix — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.