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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “blue posts”

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 “blue posts”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

FilterFlow Posts shows at wp.org #5 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 40+ 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

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Show Pages IDs 10K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 B Blue Captcha 400+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) wp.org #3 4 Content Views – Post Grid & Filter (Shortcode, Blocks, Elementor Widgets) 100K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #6 ↓2 2 too low 5 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 300K+ · 4.8★ (926) wp.org #7 ↑6 2 too low 6 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #15 ↓3 9 too low 7 Simple Download Monitor 20K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #10 ↓4 3 too low 8 Page & Post Notes 1K+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #4 ↓1 4 too high 9 AddQuicktag 100K+ · 4.7★ (44) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Simple Shopping Cart 10K+ · 4.6★ (215) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 WPAdverts – Classifieds Plugin 4K+ · 4.8★ (160) wp.org #16 ↓1 3 too low 14 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #11 ↓2 3 too high 15 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #19 ↑5 4 too low 16 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Markup by Attribute for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too high 18 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 P Posts To-Do List 50+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 too high 20 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Message Bridge for Contact Form 7 and Telegram 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #24 ↓6 3 too low 22 FilterFlow Posts 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 17 too high 23 MaxLimits – Increase Maximum Upload, Post & PHP Limits 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Blue Billywig 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓3 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.