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

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 “appendix”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Agentic Bridge shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its — 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.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Automated FedEx live/manual rates with shipping labels – HPOS supported 200+ · 4.9★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #1 2

BotSpot — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #2 3

Burgee – Race Scoring for Sailing Clubs — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #3 4

iThoughts Tooltip Glossary 10+ · 4.5★ (13) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 14 too low 5

Paycoinly — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 1 too high 6

Fortnox for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #11 5 too low 7

StSalv Smart Schema Builder — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 2 too high 8

Compass. KPI Dashboard for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too high 9

AV Solutions Courier Shipping for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10

Onlinefotka Parcel Shipping with GLS for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 2 too high 11

Payment Gateway for Victoriabank for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #9 2 too high 12

ImmoWP Diagnostic DPE GES 40+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #10 2 too high 13

RingCentral Communications Plugin – FREE 20+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #13 14

Preflight Handoff Audits 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 15

Wp-autosave 100+ · 3.7★ (3) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too low 16 H Hogan Automatic AI — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 1 too high 17

Agentic Bridge — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #12 5 too high 18

Index Harmony — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #17 1 too high 19 W wp-travelermap 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 20 S Simple Glossary 10+ · 1.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #20

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.