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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “browser detect”

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 “browser detect”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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.

W

Ranked above its merit

WPG Detect Browser shows at wp.org #2 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 100+ 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

CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 3236 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 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #5 4 too low 2 Mobile Detect 3K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #6 ↑3 2 too low 5 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #10 ↓2 5 too low 6 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4229) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Conditional Display for Mobile – Mobile Detect Plugin 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10 NinjaFirewall (WP Edition) – Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall 100K+ · 4.9★ (220) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 ThumbPress – Compress Images, Manage Thumbnails, Detect Image Issues, WebP/AVIF, Lazy Loading, Hotlinking & More 20K+ · 3.7★ (117) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #16 ↑2 4 too low 13 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #7 ↓3 6 too high 14 Flying Pages: Preload Pages for Faster Navigation & Improved User Experience 20K+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Sentry for WordPress 10K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓5 2 too low 17 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 SilentShield – Captcha & Anti-Spam for WordPress (CF7, WPForms, Elementor, WooCommerce) 10K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #23 ↓8 5 too low 19 W WPG Detect Browser 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 17 too high 20 Detect Missing Adblocker 50+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓2 11 too high 21 Telephone field for Elementor Forms 4K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Incognito Window Detect 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 9 too high 23 J JTZL's In-Browser Cache 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 Radio Browser Stations 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓8 5 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.