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

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 “boilerplate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 of the top 20. 3 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

Display Event Location for The Events Calendar shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 90+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Minimum Order Amount for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #1 2 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #2 3 RPS Include Content 700+ · 4.9★ (18) wp.org #3 4 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Beautiful taxonomy filters 2K+ · 4.9★ (68) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 JCH Optimize 4K+ · 4.4★ (69) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 WebinarPress – Webinar System for WordPress 800+ · 4.1★ (40) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 RSVPMaker 200+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #11 12 Before After Image Compare — Gutenberg & Elementor 200+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #4 8 too high 13 VentoCalendar 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 2 too low 14 WP 3D Thingviewer Lite 100+ · 3.2★ (5) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Codesala Broken Link Fixer 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 M Magic Emails & Autologin URLs 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too high 17 Interaction Boilerplate Creator — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 PinBoostr Internal Linking Assistant 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 19 Display Event Location for The Events Calendar 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 MyBrain Utilities 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 SharePoster – Social Media Photo Card Generator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 2 too low 22 HI Theme Toolkit — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 CodeTelemetryLab Admin Performance Inspector — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 CoCart – Cart API Enhanced 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.