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

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 “bbc”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Buried gem

WordLift – AI powered SEO – Schema places #6 on merit, 4.4★ from 65 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Vertical News Scroller 5K+ · 4.3★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #2 3

BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↑1 4

Riddle Quiz Maker – easily add quizzes with unlimited lead generation to your site 200+ · 4.6★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #4 ↓1 5

Wisepops Popups & Notifications 400+ · 5.0★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #5 6

WordLift – AI powered SEO – Schema 300+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #14 8 too low 7

YITH WooCommerce Waitlist 3K+ · 3.2★ (26) wp.org #13 5 too low 9

ArunAI – Auto News Poster — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #6 3 too high 10

RealStamp Verify — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 3 too high 11

RSS Content Curator — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 3 too high 12

Voicgen – AI Text to Speech & Media Player — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Explorer Soft Admin Shell — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 3 too high 14

TheGridIndex RSS Importer — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #11 3 too high 15

Malroot Security 30+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Categorize Pages 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 1 too high 17

Static Newsticker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #17 18

BIOL – Beautify Links — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 19 T Terror Alert Level Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 20 N Nova Dashboard Widget – BBC News 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #20 21 N Nova Dashboard Widget – BBC News – Technology 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #21 22 N Nova Dashboard Widget – BBC News – Politics 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #22 23 P Prodotti Tipici Scoop — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #23 24 A Alan's BBC Technolgy News RSS Widget 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #24

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.