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

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 “bloom”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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

Matcha Gallery – AI Photo Wall, Masonry & Portfolio Studio shows at wp.org #14 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its — 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

Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme places #3 on merit, 4.5★ from 391 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 FireDrum Email Marketing 40+ · 4.9★ (8) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Smooth Custom Cursor 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #24 ↓3 21 too low 4 Bloom for Publishers 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 ↓1 2 too high 5 Awesome Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Augmented Reality Viewer – 3D Model Viewer 400+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 KineticHub Page Loader – Preloader & Branded Loading Screen 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 UnoDock – Mobile Bottom Navigation 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓3 15 too low 9 Keap Official Opt-in Forms 1K+ · 1.9★ (14) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 SpamKill – No-CAPTCHA, No-Signup Anti-Spam & Spam Protection for Comments & Reviews for WooCommerce 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Gatekeep – Universal CAPTCHA & Anti-Spam for All Forms & Comments 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑2 4 too high 12 BloomStack Gallery Spotlight for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Quiz Builder by WiVi – Online Exam & Quiz Maker 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑2 2 too high 14 Sadat Loginverse — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too high 15 D Design Cart Pajax GPL — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓2 2 too high 16 B BloomImages — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 Amortexa Mortgage Calculator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too high 18 Wingstech 3D Product Viewer Interactive — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Seazonify — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Matcha Gallery – AI Photo Wall, Masonry & Portfolio Studio — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too high 21 StoreSignals Connect — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 S Sweet Sharmin Preloader — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Fixlight – Accessibility Checker & Fixer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Converly: Conversion Tracking for Gravity Forms, WPForms, Contact Form 7 & More — · 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.