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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “avatars plugin”

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 “avatars plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 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

Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy shows at wp.org #5 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple Local Avatars 100K+ · 4.6★ (89) wp.org #1 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Author Avatars List/Block 4K+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP User Avatars 20K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #10 ↓3 5 too low 6 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 One User Avatar | User Profile Picture 100K+ · 4.7★ (41) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #20 ↓1 12 too low 9 Simple User Avatar 20K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 UsersWP – Front-end login form, User Registration, User Profile & Members Directory plugin for WP 20K+ · 4.7★ (183) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Simple Calendar – Google Calendar Plugin 50K+ · 3.8★ (397) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 LazyLoad Plugin – Lazy Load Images, Videos, and Iframes 100K+ · 4.2★ (139) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #15 ↓3 2 too low 14 Leira Letter Avatar 6K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 WPAdverts – Classifieds Plugin 4K+ · 4.8★ (160) wp.org #24 ↓2 8 too low 17 Basic User Avatars 20K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #22 ↓6 3 too low 20 Gravatar Enhanced – Avatars, Profiles, and Privacy 100K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 15 too high 21 Advanced User Avatar | Custom Profile Picture Uploader for WordPress, WooCommerce, and BuddyPress 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 User Profile Picture – Custom Local Avatars 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑1 14 too high 23 B BP Local Avatars 100+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #19 ↓3 4 too high 24 Easy Author Avatar Image 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 ↓1 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.