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

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 “bestwebsoft”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Htaccess by BestWebSoft – WordPress Website Access Control Plugin shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smart Slider 3 places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1125 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 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #1 2 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #2 3 Contact Form by BestWebSoft – Advanced WP Contact Form Builder for WordPress 30K+ · 4.0★ (292) wp.org #3 4 Gallery by BestWebSoft – Customizable Image and Photo Galleries for WordPress 10K+ · 4.0★ (158) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 PDF & Print by BestWebSoft – WordPress Posts and Pages PDF Generator Plugin 9K+ · 3.9★ (102) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #16 ↓2 10 too low 7 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #19 ↓2 12 too low 8 Captcha by BestWebSoft – Advanced Spam Protection, Math & OCR-Friendly Captcha for Site Forms 10K+ · 4.1★ (21) wp.org #6 ↑4 2 too high 9 Multilanguage by BestWebSoft – WordPress Translation Plugin and Language Switcher 3K+ · 3.8★ (92) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Updater by BestWebSoft 2K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Profile Extra Fields by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.6★ (15) wp.org #8 ↓1 3 too high 12 Pagination by BestWebSoft – Customizable WordPress Content Splitter and Navigation Plugin 5K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #17 ↑2 5 too low 13 Error Log Viewer by BestWebSoft 5K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too high 14 SMTP Mailer 70K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Limit Attempts by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-Bot and Security Plugin for Login and Forms 4K+ · 4.6★ (37) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 Custom Search by BestWebSoft – WordPress Custom Search Plugin 900+ · 3.9★ (29) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 User Role by BestWebSoft – Add and Customize Roles and Capabilities in WordPress 3K+ · 3.6★ (12) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Quotes and Tips by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Contact Form to DB by BestWebSoft – Messages Database Plugin For WordPress 1K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 SMTP by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 4.4★ (13) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Rating by BestWebSoft 300+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Visitors Online by BestWebSoft 1K+ · 3.5★ (11) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 2-Step Verification by BestWebSoft – WordPress Anti-spam and Anti Hacker Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Htaccess by BestWebSoft – WordPress Website Access Control Plugin 400+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑2 10 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.