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

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 “bbq”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

Disable Application Passwords shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #1 2 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #2 3 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #3 4 Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #4 5 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #6 7 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 Disable Lazy Load 9K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Simple Ajax Chat – Add a Fast, Secure Chat Box 2K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 WP Cron HTTP Auth 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Theme Switcha – Easily Switch Themes for Development and Testing 7K+ · 4.4★ (63) wp.org #17 ↓5 1 too low 17 Disable Application Passwords 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Custom Fields for Gutenberg 1K+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #15 ↑1 3 too high 19 Simple Statistics for Feeds 800+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21 Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too high 22 Show Support Ribbon 300+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Banhammer – Monitor Site Traffic, Block Bad Users and Bots 1K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Host Header Injection Fix 400+ · 5.0★ (6) 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.