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

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 “audiobooks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 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

Audio Editor & Recorder shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Serial Numbers – Ultimate License Manager for Selling, Licensing & Securely Delivering Digital Content with WooCommerce places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 78 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MPL-Publisher — Ebook & Audiobook Creator 700+ · 4.9★ (46) wp.org #1 2 Subscriptions for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (180) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 MyBookTable Bookstore by Stormhill Media 1K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Serial Numbers – Ultimate License Manager for Selling, Licensing & Securely Delivering Digital Content with WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Local Links 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Reference Manager for WordPress with Footnotes, Citations, Bibliographies, Tooltips and Glossary 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 BookFunnel 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 My Reads – a virtual bookshelf for tracking and reviewing your reads 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Audio Preview for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 DigiCommerce – Conversion-Focused Digital Sales Platform 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Blocks for Bandcamp 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 13 Glassboxx for WooCommerce 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 14 Miguel for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 15 Really Simple Featured Audio – Sell Music, Samples & Audio Products with WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 16 Snapplify E-Commerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Speechable 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Publica.now — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 ChimpJar Flipbook Maker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Parlato – AI Podcast Generator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 SoftIcon Ready-Made Template — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 PUBVOICE – AI Audio Player Powered by Gemini — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 AIO Calculators By Adittaw 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Audio Editor & Recorder 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #11 13 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.