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

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 “baseline”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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

Sales Counter For WooCommerce shows at wp.org #15 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ 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

NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator places #4 on merit, 4.7★ from 279 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Watermark 40K+ · 4.2★ (298) wp.org #1 2 Perfect Images: Regenerate Thumbnails, Image Sizes, WebP & AVIF 60K+ · 4.8★ (279) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 User Admin Simplifier 10K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 NS Cloner – Site Cloner and Multisite Duplicator 6K+ · 4.7★ (279) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too low 5 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 cformsII 3K+ · 4.3★ (21) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Disable Right Click RB – Content Copy Protection, Prevent Copy & No Right Click 600+ · 4.2★ (14) wp.org #7 ↑6 8 Plugin Detective – Troubleshooting Conflicts 5K+ · 4.0★ (49) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too low 9 Site Lockdown Security 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 WP Anchor Header 300+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓2 2 too high 11 Total Sales Counts for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.8★ (11) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Login Armor 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 SiteLock Security – WP Hardening, Login Security & Malware Scans 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 900+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 8 too low 15 Ultimate Watermark – Image Watermark, Image Protection & Bulk Watermarking 1K+ · 3.3★ (11) wp.org #21 ↓1 6 too low 16 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 17 User Location and IP 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 BrightLeaf Digital PHP Compatibility Scanner 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 System Requirements Check 30+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3 5 too low 20 Baseline Labs Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Sales Counter For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Footprint – Find what slows your site 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑7 5 too high 23 Screenly Cast 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too high 24 Aipatch Security Scanner 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.