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

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 “blink”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 2 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

Pay by Instant Transfer (by Fintecture) shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WPeMatico RSS Feed Fetcher 10K+ · 4.8★ (514) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Blink For WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 AffiliateX – Amazon Affiliate Plugin, Product Boxes, Comparison Tables & Affiliate Link Tracking 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1053) wp.org #13 ↓3 9 too low 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #24 ↓1 19 too low 6 Social Media Widget 30K+ · 3.9★ (84) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 CTA Button Styler 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Easy Map – Store Locator, OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Mapbox 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Barrierefrei – mit Hürdenlos.Assist 30+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 MICE Operations Widget 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 5 too high 11 DEL Embed for Bandcamp 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 4 too high 12 WP Blast | SEO & Performance Booster 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑4 4 too high 13 ADA Compliance & Accessibility Checker – WCAG 2.2, Section 508 — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too low 14 BlinkPay NZ for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Accept Bitcoin with your Lightning Address — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 R RangerHQ Buddy — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 VibeCode Notice Bar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 E EX Kinetic Typography for Elementor — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Neon text 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 Pluximo Form Blocks – Easy Gutenberg Contact Form Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Badger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Markproof – Accessibility Checks — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 PerseiaThink Accessibility Audit for EAA — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Pay by Instant Transfer (by Fintecture) 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓2 15 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.