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

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 “backtrace”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 of the top 20. 3 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

oik bwtrace shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Gift Cards (Gift Vouchers and Packages) (WooCommerce Supported) places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 115 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #1 2 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Black Bar 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #11 7 too low 5 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #17 12 too low 6 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #19 ↓1 13 too low 7 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #18 ↓1 11 too low 8 Gift Cards (Gift Vouchers and Packages) (WooCommerce Supported) 1K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #22 ↓1 14 too low 9 Hagakure – Yet Another Error Reporter 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 BugFu Console Debugger 300+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 0 Day Analytics 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↓1 4 too high 13 I Icode Mail Logger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Lagoona Webhooks – Send Form Submissions to Any Webhook 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑1 7 too high 15 Qaiyo Web Performance Surgeon — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 oik bwtrace 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 Arvexa Performance Overlay — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Orpharion — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Notice TraceLog — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 6 too high 20 Errorgap — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Fluent Query Logger – Log Database Queries and analyze plugin database performance 20+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 Dintero Checkout for WooCommerce Payment Methods 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 CPT Toggle – Disable Custom Post Types 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 F Fix .htaccess WPML language 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.