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

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 “bird”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 4 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

DEPRECATED – Shipmondo – A complete shipping solution for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Flamingo 800K+ · 4.2★ (121) wp.org #1 2 FileBird – WordPress Media Library Folders & File Manager 200K+ · 4.7★ (1122) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Eventin – Event Calendar, Tickets, Registration, Booking & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (399) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Finale Lite – Sales Countdown Timer & Discount for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.7★ (149) wp.org #5 6 Product Table & List Builder for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.9★ (253) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too low 7 Name Directory 2K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #7 8 LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) wp.org #10 ↓2 2 too low 9 Gallery Block by Galleryberg: Lightbox with Tiles, Masonry, Square, & Justified Layouts 2K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.5★ (84) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Event Genius – Event Management, Events Calendar, Registration, and RSVP 600+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Travelly – Tour & Travel Booking Manager for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (45) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Slider Hero with Video Background, Animation 3K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #19 ↓1 5 too low 15 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (36) wp.org #16 ↑1 1 too low 16 Yatra – Travel Booking & Tour Operator Software 600+ · 4.7★ (23) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Venuera – Event Tickets for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Event Koi Lite – Events Calendar, Event Management, RSVP, and Tickets 80+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too low 19 DEPRECATED – Shipmondo – A complete shipping solution for WooCommerce 5K+ · 3.0★ (8) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 WingMind AI 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 7 too high 21 Mevabi – Word Search Puzzle Builder 10+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Drop Prices for WooCommerce 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 Raptcha 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Shipmondo for WooCommerce 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 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.