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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “book sample”

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 “book sample”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

Casa Quick Salon Book shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 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

MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 302 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Appointment Hour Booking – Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.9★ (524) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 RS WP Book Showcase – A Complete Book Catalogue & Library System 1K+ · 3.9★ (25) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #4 5 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Ebook Store 700+ · 4.4★ (60) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Product Table for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.8★ (295) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 MP3 Audio Player – Music Player, Podcast Player & Radio by Sonaar 20K+ · 4.8★ (302) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 MPL-Publisher — Ebook & Audiobook Creator 700+ · 4.9★ (46) wp.org #9 10 PDF Poster – Let visitors read PDF’s without leaving the page 20K+ · 4.5★ (149) wp.org #13 ↓3 3 too low 11 MyBookTable Bookstore by Stormhill Media 1K+ · 3.8★ (41) wp.org #7 ↑1 4 too high 12 WP Time Slots Booking Form 1K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 WP TripAdvisor Review Slider 8K+ · 4.8★ (135) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 Custom Contact Forms 6K+ · 3.5★ (171) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too low 15 EventPrime – Events Calendar, Bookings, Tickets & AI 7K+ · 4.4★ (85) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Flipbook PDF Viewer & Embedder 300+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 ↓3 8 too high 17 Library Management System 200+ · 4.4★ (14) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 Drip for Gravity Forms 400+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too high 19 iPages – FlipBook Image & PDF Viewer 2K+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too high 20 Custom Add To Cart Button for WooCommerce 9K+ · 3.9★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 2 too low 21 TNC FlipBook 3D – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF Viewer, PDF Embedder 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Casa Quick Salon Book — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑2 11 too high 23 BookPress – PDF eBook Maker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 J Jellybooks DISCOVERY for Publishers 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 4 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.