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

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 “birthdays”, 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Wbcom Designs – Birthday Widget for BuddyPress shows at wp.org #6 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 708 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #1 ↑3 2 Wallet for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.7★ (188) wp.org #3 ↑3 1 too low 3 Gratisfaction- Loyalty, Rewards , Referral, Birthday and Giveaway Program 600+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too low 5 Connect Contact Form 7 to Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo, GetResponse, EmailOctopus, Campaign Monitor & Moosend 40K+ · 4.3★ (190) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 BP Birthday Greetings 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 ↓1 4 too high 7 Online Scheduling and Appointment Booking System – Bookly 60K+ · 4.4★ (586) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 YITH WooCommerce Wishlist 400K+ · 3.9★ (262) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too low 9 Mailmunch Forms for Mailchimp 10K+ · 4.6★ (372) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too low 10 Loyalty Points Rewards and Referral for WooCommerce – WPLoyalty 3K+ · 5.0★ (310) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 Gift Wrapper for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too low 12 WP Frontend Delete Account 4K+ · 4.6★ (27) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 AcyMailing – An Ultimate Newsletter Plugin and Marketing Automation Solution for WordPress 5K+ · 4.8★ (157) wp.org #20 ↓2 7 too low 14 Email Template Designer – WP HTML Mail 20K+ · 4.8★ (87) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create Loyalty Programs, Reward Customer Purchases, Referral Points, User Badges, and Gamification 6K+ · 4.5★ (180) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Newsletters, Email Marketing, SMS and Popups by Omnisend 100K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Birthday For WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓2 12 too high 18 Gratisfaction- Contests Giveaways Referral Loyalty Rewards and Birthdays Program 20+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 GIFTiT – Free Gifts for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Users Birthday Email 90+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Mailster WordPress Newsletter Plugin 7K+ · 3.5★ (8) wp.org #12 ↓1 9 too high 22 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 eCards Lite – Christmas, Birthday & Thank-You E-Cards 100+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 Wbcom Designs – Birthday Widget for BuddyPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓1 18 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.