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

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 “candle”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 2 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

SmartProductSEO – SEO Generator for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #12 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 4 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Attribute Stock for WooCommerce – Shared Stock & Variable Quantities (Lite Version) 2K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #1 2 Graphina – Charts and Graphs For Elementor 9K+ · 4.1★ (16) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Stock market charts from finviz 400+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Obituary Assistant 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 6 BundleBoss – Product Bundles, Mix and Match & Build a Box for WooCommerce 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 Virtual Candles – Memorial Light Display 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Weekly Shabbat Times 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Holy Day Off 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 TributeCore B2B — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 1 too low 11 Swift Coupons for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓2 9 too low 12 Mawu Dark Mode for the Admin Dashboard, Editor & Website 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 S Shamor — Shabbat & Holiday Site Blocker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 ReadyGo Gift Wrap – Gift Wrapping, Gift Message & Wrapping Fee for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 15 Shabbat Menucha — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 16 SmartProductSEO – SEO Generator for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 Oversight Shabbat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Digitizer Shabbat Keeper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 KeenToDesign Shipping with Australia Post for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too high 20 F Fragrance Note Pyramid — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 1 too high 21 BeforeSunrise Realistic Snowfall — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 Adams Crypto Analysis — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 Zmanim WP — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Shabbat Blocker — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.