Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 info”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 2 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

Lead info with country for Contact Form 7 shows at wp.org #5 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Store Locator places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 312 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Version Info – Server Health Monitor, PHP & MySQL Version Display, Environment Indicators 10K+ · 5.0★ (15) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #12 6 too low 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #16 9 too low 8 WP Plugin Info Card – Showcase Beautiful Plugin, Theme, and GitHub Cards Anywhere 400+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #7 ↓3 1 too high 9 FooGallery Photo Gallery : Image, Video & Masonry Galleries 100K+ · 4.8★ (995) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #19 ↓2 8 too low 12 WP Store Locator 40K+ · 4.8★ (312) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Document Viewer – let visitors view files right in the browser 2K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #13 14 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #18 ↑4 4 too low 15 Super Progressive Web Apps 40K+ · 4.6★ (225) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #23 ↓3 7 too low 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Lead info with country for Contact Form 7 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #5 ↑1 13 too high 19 CL WP Info 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 13 too high 20 Hostinger Tools 3M+ · 3.5★ (40) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 Browser Tab Title Reminder 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 10 too high 22 Apache Status & Info 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 13 too high 23 AEH Speed Optimization: Browser Cache, Optimized Minify, Lazy Loading & Image Optimization 2K+ · 3.2★ (20) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Collect Browser Info — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.