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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “beaver excerpt”

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 “beaver excerpt”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

WP ADA Compliance Check Basic shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 491 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #1 2 Slider, Gallery, and Carousel by MetaSlider – Image Slider, Video Slider 500K+ · 4.6★ (743) wp.org #2 3 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Blocksy Companion 300K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #5 ↑3 6 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (236) wp.org #6 ↑1 7 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1597) wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too low 8 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too high 10 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #9 ↑3 1 too high 11 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Duplicate PP 10K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #7 5 too high 13 Easy Accordion – AI-Powered FAQ & Accordion Blocks, Product FAQ 70K+ · 4.9★ (358) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #17 ↓4 3 too low 15 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #20 ↑3 4 too low 17 Photo Gallery by Re Gallery: Responsive Image Gallery with AI SEO 700+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #13 ↑4 4 too high 18 ACF Frontend Admin by DynamiApps 8K+ · 4.5★ (160) wp.org #22 ↓2 4 too low 19 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #19 20 Glossary 2K+ · 4.7★ (84) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Dynamic Month & Year into Posts 8K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓3 10 too high 23 Bulk Page Duplicator 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Futurio Extra 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 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.