wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “automatically close”

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 “automatically close”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks shows at wp.org #3 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2

Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) low rating, top placement wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) heavy footprint wp.org #4 ↑3 5

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 ↓2 7

Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8

LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #13 ↑3 4 too low 10

Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑11 2 too high 11

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #17 ↓3 6 too low 12

Germanized for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (496) wp.org #16 ↓3 4 too low 13

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #24 11 too low 14

FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #15 1 too low 15

Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (189) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #14 ↓4 1 too high 16

OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #23 7 too low 17

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts 10K+ · 4.6★ (102) wp.org #21 ↓1 4 too low 18

Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19

Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↓1 16 too high 20

Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #20 ↑1 21

RapidLoad AI – Optimize Web Vitals Automatically 600+ · 4.2★ (70) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22

WebberZone Snippetz – Header, Body and Footer manager 2K+ · 4.8★ (10) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #11 11 too high 23

Message Popup For Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.3★ (3) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 11 too high 24

WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #22 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.