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

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 “arquivos”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Frete Click shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Pix por Piggly (para Woocommerce) places #4 on merit, 4.5★ from 73 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

How this rank is calculated

Each plugin's merit score multiplies these inputs together: how recently it was updated, how current its "tested up to" WordPress version is, its install base (log scale, capped at 10 million), its support thread resolution rate, and a rating score. The rating score weights the star average by review volume against a sitewide prior, then scales it by the lower bound of the share of 4 and 5 star reviews. A plugin with 3.7 stars from tens of thousands of reviews can still outscore a 4.9 with a few dozen, because the small sample carries less certainty.

A health factor between 0.4 and 1.15 then adjusts that score for what wp.org's search can't see: PHP fatals or failed activations on a test install, PHP and WordPress compatibility, memory and page-speed footprint, suspicious review patterns, closure risk, and a large install base with very few reviews. Clean, adopted plugins earn a small lift.

A keyword ranking starts from wp.org's search order for the term, weighting each position by 1 divided by its place, then applies the merit correction and health factor above. Relevance to the keyword stays in the result, so the order can differ from the all-categories list on /best, which scores plugins with no search term.

Hover a row to see the main reason for its position.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PagBank / PagSeguro e Vindi para WooCommerce 3K+ · 5.0★ (65) wp.org #1 2 Nota Fiscal Eletrônica Webmania 300+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 AutoCEP 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 4 Pix por Piggly (para Woocommerce) 4K+ · 4.5★ (73) wp.org #15 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 11 places below merit 5 Efí Bank 300+ · 3.6★ (19) wp.org #8 wp.org ranks it 3 places below merit 6 Adicionar Banco Inter ao WooCommerce 20+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #6 7 FPG – Endereço automático por Cep no Checkout 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 8 SuperFrete 1K+ · 3.8★ (4) wp.org #4 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 9 GoCache 800+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 6 places above merit 10 Remove Special Characters on Upload 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 7 places below merit 11 Belluno para WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit 12 M MavenDoc Proxy — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 13 Envio Ecom 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑7 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 14 FabriSite Sitemapy SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 15 PEI Digital – PIX Sandbox Gateway 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place above merit 16 Digitala – Digital Product Delivery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 17 Intelyze — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 2 places below merit 18 InCuca Helper 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 19 Frete Click 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #10 wp.org ranks it 9 places above merit 20 SimpliNota para WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 21 iaRe CRM — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 22 Trashify – Exclusão de Imagens — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 23 F10 Escolar – Captura de Leads — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 wp.org ranks it 1 place below merit 24 OrendaPay 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓2 wp.org ranks it 4 places above merit

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 10M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted 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.