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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “approved comments”

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 “approved comments”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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

WP Comment Notification shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 400+ 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

Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 1562 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #1 2 Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ · 4.7★ (1187) wp.org #2 3 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WP Comment Cleaner – Delete All Comments, Disable Comments, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments 20K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #4 5 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Ivory Search – WordPress Search Plugin 90K+ · 4.9★ (1562) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Comment Approved Notifier Extended 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Antispam Bee 700K+ · 4.8★ (226) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Customize WordPress Emails and Alerts – Better Notifications for WP 30K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Cookies and Content Security Policy 10K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Simple Comment Editing 2K+ · 4.8★ (55) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 Comment Link Remove and Other Comment Tools 8K+ · 4.1★ (15) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Bulk Delete Comments 5K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 Manually Approved Reviews for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Zeno Report Comments 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 WP Notification Bell 700+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 FluentComments – AJAX Comments, Anti-Spam & Comment Email Notifications 700+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 WP Comment Notification 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 ATmosphere 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 23 S Safe Report Comments 100+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #23 24 Comments Shield – Disable Comments & Stop Spam, Bulk Delete & Remove Comments 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.