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

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 “bread”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 4 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

Bread Pay shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Landing Page Builder – Free Landing Page Templates places #8 on merit, 4.1★ from 107 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Bread & Butter – Identify Website Visitors, Score Leads & Gate Content 70+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #1 2 WebP Express 300K+ · 4.4★ (162) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 eCommerce Product Catalog 7K+ · 4.7★ (270) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 DTX – Dynamic Text Extension for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.7★ (99) wp.org #6 ↑2 2 too low 5 EventAgent.ai 10+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #10 ↑1 5 too low 6 Order Limit for WooCommerce (Free Version) 800+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too low 7 Breadcrumb based on URL 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 4 too high 8 Landing Page Builder – Free Landing Page Templates 500+ · 4.1★ (107) wp.org #18 ↑1 10 too low 9 Simple Yearly Archive 6K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 RSS for Yandex Zen 4K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #20 ↑1 10 too low 11 Bread 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 9 too high 12 CLUEVO LMS, E-Learning Platform 400+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 KnowledgeBase with AI ChatBot HelpDesk – KBx 30+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 JHMG AI Editor for Divi 5 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 FooSales – Point of Sale (POS) for WooCommerce 600+ · 3.2★ (13) wp.org #9 ↑1 6 too high 16 Wootomation – Machine Learning AI 20+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Bread Pay 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 ↑1 12 too high 18 Extra Product Options (Custom Addons) for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 Structured llms.txt 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Primary Cat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 Dashbread – Turn Your Site into a SaaS App — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Breadbugger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 Get Telephone Contacts of Prospective Customers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 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.