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

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 “baseball”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Victorious Fantasy Sports shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 10+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SportsPress – Sports Club & League Manager 10K+ · 4.7★ (369) wp.org #1 2 YayExtra – WooCommerce Extra Product Options 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #2 3 WP Club Manager – WordPress Sports Club Plugin 600+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 AnWP Football Leagues 700+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 AnWP Sports Leagues – Basketball, Ice Hockey, Handball, Rugby & More 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 ↑2 2 too high 6 Pretty Google Calendar 4K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #15 9 too low 7 Fantasy Football 20+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 Hydrogen Calendar Embeds 1K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 SPOSCOR Baseball — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 M mlab4195 Baseball Scoreboard — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Scores – Livescore for football, soccer, tennis, basketball, handball, volleyball & hockey 30+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #23 12 too low 12 Online Games 70+ · 3.2★ (13) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 FA Sport Odds 10+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #22 9 too low 14 SPOSCOR Core 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Scoreboard UI 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 SportsPress for Baseball 800+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #16 17 Mode7 Game Log — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 Pesistulokset — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 5 too high 19 Victorious Fantasy Sports 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 SPOSCOR Basketball — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 SPOSCOR Padel — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 Affiliate Bridge — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 D Diffen 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Odds Comparison 10+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #20 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.