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

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 “attendance”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 6 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

HR Management Lite shows at wp.org #14 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin places #8 on merit, 5.0★ from 103 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 Events Made Easy 1K+ · 4.6★ (111) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 A Attendance Manager 700+ · 4.4★ (5) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 RSVP and Event Management 3K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 ERP: Complete HR, Accounting & CRM Suite Built for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.4★ (149) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Educare – Students & Result Management System 600+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #16 ↑1 8 too low 9 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Clock In Portal- Staff & Attendance Management 200+ · 3.9★ (11) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 Event Booking Manager for WooCommerce – Sell Tickets, Event Registration, RSVP & Event Calendar 7K+ · 4.5★ (167) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 School Management System – WPSchoolPress 1K+ · 4.0★ (21) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too high 13 Event Countdown for The Events Calendar 3K+ · 4.6★ (48) wp.org #17 ↓2 4 too low 14 Event Calendar Newsletter 600+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 Event Post 1K+ · 4.3★ (35) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Gym Builder – Class Timetable & Booking for Gyms, Fitness & Yoga Studios 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #23 ↓4 7 too low 17 Clockinator Lite 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Eventward 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑6 19 WPChef Employee Attendance Tracker 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑3 6 too high 20 MerchantKits Attendance Manager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Attendra – Class, Package & Attendance Manager 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 HR Management Lite 200+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #14 ↓1 8 too high 23 myCred Addons – Ultimate myCred Modules To Support WordPress Gamification and Loyalty Rewards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 WP-HR Manager: The Human Resources Plugin for WordPress 200+ · 2.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.