wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “bbpress widget”
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 widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20.
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.
Ranked above its merit
Turnkey bbPress by WeaverTheme shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 724 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778)
wp.org #1 2 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #6 4 too low 3 
forumAttachments for bbPress 6K+ · 4.3★ (26)
wp.org #2 1 too high 4 
BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375)
wp.org #5 1 too low 5 
Dynamic Widgets 10K+ · 4.7★ (109)
wp.org #7 ↑7 2 too low 6 Content Aware Sidebars – Fastest Widget Area Plugin 30K+ · 4.9★ (724)
wp.org #13 ↑9 7 too low 7 
GD bbPress Tools 1K+ · 3.8★ (24) thin reviews
wp.org #3 4 too high 8 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #15 7 too low 9 
Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262)
wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too low 10 
WPS Hide Login 2M+ · 4.8★ (2111)
wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 
Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132)
wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 
User Profile Builder – Beautiful User Registration Forms, User Profiles & User Role Editor 40K+ · 4.7★ (738)
wp.org #19 7 too low 13 
Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283)
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
rtMedia for WordPress, BuddyPress and bbPress 7K+ · 3.7★ (152)
wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #23 ↓11 7 too low 17 
Paid Membership Subscriptions – Effortless Memberships, Recurring Payments & Content Restriction 10K+ · 4.7★ (270)
wp.org #24 7 too low 18 
bbp style pack 6K+ · 4.9★ (100)
wp.org #21 3 too low 19 
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #16 3 too high 20 
bbPress WP Tweaks 1K+ · 4.2★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #8 ↓1 12 too high 21 Turnkey bbPress by WeaverTheme 300+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews
wp.org #4 17 too high 22 
bbPress Voting 400+ · 4.7★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 
bbPress Login Register Links On Forum Topic Pages 600+ · 4.1★ (8) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too high 24 
topicPolls Pro for bbPress 200+ · 3.8★ (5) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↓1 6 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.