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

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 “blazing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Disable WP Sitemaps shows at wp.org #9 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 230 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Easy Social Feed – All In One Social Feed Plugin for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (502) wp.org #1 2 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #2 3 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #3 4 Meow Gallery 10K+ · 4.9★ (203) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Performant Translations 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Simply Static – The Static Site Generator 30K+ · 4.5★ (195) wp.org #10 3 too low 8 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Smooth Back To Top Button 40K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 PWA for WP – Progressive Web Apps Made Simple 10K+ · 4.6★ (230) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Head Meta Data 10K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Simple Blog Stats 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Disable Lazy Load 9K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 WP Cron HTTP Auth 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Disable Application Passwords 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #23 24 ezCache 10K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #19 5 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.