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

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 “autoloader”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Smart Admin Assistant shows at wp.org #10 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 WP SAML Auth 7K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Darven Preços Parcelados 200+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 ArchiveMaster – Auto Archive and Export Old Orders for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Serbian Addons for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Smart JavaScript Auto Loader 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #18 ↓1 12 too low 7 Eventnetic – Event Tickets, Booking and Calendar 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Smart CSS Auto Loader 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 12 too low 9 Invizo MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, Codex, Cursor and WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Some Plus Report Post 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Accordion FAQ – FAQ Schema, Block & Shortcode with Live Search 100+ · 3.3★ (4) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Loyal Security – Firewall & Malware Scanner 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Innosend 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 StoreBolt – Advanced Search for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Checkmate PDF Invoices, Packing Slips & Delivery Notes for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 MITS One Click Return – EU 2023/2673 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Simple Open Graphs – Social Sharing, Open Graph, Twitter Cards & Rich Previews 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 2 too high 18 Big SEO Programmatic 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 Noah Shop Builder for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Dynamic Functionalities 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too low 21 Permalink Manager for WooCommerce by Onlinefotka 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 ArrayFunnel – Checkout, Upsells & Cart Recovery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Alondra — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 1 too low 24 Smart Admin Assistant 200+ · 3.3★ (3) wp.org #10 14 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.