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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bbpress plugin”

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 “bbpress plugin”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 5 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

powerSearch for bbPress shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 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

BuddyPress places #11 on merit, 4.1★ from 375 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #1 2 Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445) wp.org #2 3 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Download Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 bbPress Notify (No-Spam) 2K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Inline Image Upload for BBPress 3K+ · 4.6★ (65) wp.org #8 1 too low 8 WP-Members Membership Plugin 50K+ · 4.6★ (272) wp.org #14 ↑4 6 too low 9 Plugin Load Filter 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too low 13 GD bbPress Tools 1K+ · 3.8★ (24) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #20 ↓3 6 too low 15 P Post Comments as bbPress Topics 300+ · 4.3★ (18) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 bbPress WP Tweaks 1K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Turnkey bbPress by WeaverTheme 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 9 too high 19 bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Enable bbPress for Block Themes 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 Permalinks with ID for bbPress 100+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #21 22 powerSearch for bbPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 10 too high 23 forumManager for bbPress 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 LearnPress – bbPress Integration 2K+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.