Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “arc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Product Side Cart For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 30+ 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 wp.org
1 Disk Usage Sunburst 9K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #1 2 Bible Verse of the Day 3K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Issues and Series for Newspapers, Magazines, Publishers, Writers 2K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 RS ARC Manager – Advance Review Copy Management System 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Interactive Globes – 3D World Maps 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Text Typing – grab attention with animated typing headlines 3K+ · 3.8★ (6) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WP Preloader 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 8 Respira ARC: AI Product Feeds for WooCommerce (ChatGPT, Google Shopping, llms.txt) 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 AI Alt-Text Generator – Generate alt text automatically to enhance SEO and accessibility. 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 10 too low 10 ARC — Advance Review Copy — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too high 11 XTX Integration for Netatmo 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Adriano GEO Context and Crawl Monitor 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑4 2 too high 13 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓2 2 too high 14 Artisan Slider for Elementor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 LiteImage 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too high 16 DesignCrate Product Designer for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Product Side Cart For WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 Telkari – Floating Social Icons & CTAs 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Grinner Blocks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Waito Animated Preloader and Loading Screen 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 PCIO Year Wheel — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 SimpleStamp Designer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 S Sweet Sharmin Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 MoxKit Addons for Elementor 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.