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

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 “appearance”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

CiviCRM Admin Utilities shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #3 1 too low 3

Simple Custom CSS and JS 600K+ · 4.4★ (104) wp.org #2 1 too high 4

Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) not PHP-current wp.org #4 5

Side Cart Woocommerce | Woocommerce Cart 70K+ · 4.9★ (453) wp.org #7 2 too low 6

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 A Advanced Excerpt 80K+ · 4.3★ (101) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 C Classic Widgets 2M+ · 4.9★ (272) wp.org #6 2 too high 9

Menu Icons by Themeisle – Add Icons to Navigation Menus 100K+ · 4.9★ (851) wp.org #10 1 too low 10

WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11

User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #11 ↑3 12

Firelight Lightbox 200K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #15 ↑3 3 too low 13

Orphans 50K+ · 5.0★ (164) wp.org #17 4 too low 14

Hustle – Email Marketing, Lead Generation, Optins, Popups 80K+ · 4.4★ (859) wp.org #20 ↑4 6 too low 15

WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓1 2 too high 17

PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18

TI WooCommerce Wishlist 100K+ · 4.7★ (503) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #24 5 too low 20

Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #22 2 too low 21

Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) thin reviews wp.org #21 22

CiviCRM Admin Utilities 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓1 9 too high 23 M Menu Item Duplicator 2K+ · 3.8★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #19 4 too high 24

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↓3 1 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.