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

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 “approve”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

Approve Orders for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10+ 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

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 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 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #6 4 too low 3 PublishPress Revisions: Duplicate Posts, Submit, Approve and Schedule Content Changes 10K+ · 4.6★ (66) wp.org #3 4 WP Approve User 3K+ · 4.2★ (42) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (195) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #8 ↓3 9 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #16 ↓6 5 too low 12 Affiliate Program Suite — SliceWP Affiliates 10K+ · 4.9★ (111) wp.org #14 ↓2 2 too low 13 Booking Calendar 40K+ · 4.8★ (657) wp.org #24 ↓4 11 too low 14 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Comment Approved Notifier Extended 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #10 ↓3 6 too high 17 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #17 18 Whols – Wholesale Prices and B2B Store Solution for WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓7 3 too low 19 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Order Approval for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (23) wp.org #18 ↓3 2 too high 21 WC Cancel Order 5K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #23 ↓6 2 too low 22 Cowboy MCP – Free MCP Server with Undo for Claude & ChatGPT 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Approve Orders for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 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.