Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “backwards compatibility”

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 “backwards compatibility”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

BP Classic shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Tooltipy (tooltips for WP) places #9 on merit, 4.6★ from 68 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #1 2 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #2 3 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 ECS – Ele Custom Skin for Elementor 100K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 J jQuery Updater 20K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ · 2.7★ (131) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Machete 6K+ · 5.0★ (52) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Tooltipy (tooltips for WP) 1K+ · 4.6★ (68) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 WebAuthn Provider for Two Factor 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Divi Torque Lite 50K+ · 4.7★ (116) wp.org #18 6 too low 13 Lightbox Images for Divi Enhanced 4K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #14 1 too low 14 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Featured Image with URL 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #15 16 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too low 18 WP OAuth Server (OAuth Authentication) 3K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Video Dashboard 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Custom Thank You Page for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 BP Classic 6K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Order Tracker for WooCommerce – Track Customer Order 900+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Peach Payments Gateway 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Dojo for WooCommerce 800+ · 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.