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

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 “caribbean”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Dime Pay – Seamless Payment Processing for Your Business shows at wp.org #6 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 40+ 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

GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform places #2 on merit, 4.6★ from 708 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #1 2 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform 100K+ · 4.6★ (708) wp.org #13 ↓1 11 too low 3 All Currencies for WooCommerce 900+ · 3.8★ (9) wp.org #3 4 Tilopay 2K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #16 ↓1 11 too low 6 Scotiabank Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 PayLexer – Payment Integration Solution for WordPress (Stripe, PayPal, Paystack, and more) 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #4 ↑3 3 too high 8 Currency Converter Widget ⚡ PRO 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too low 9 Exchange Rates 800+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 OXP Breaking News Ticker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 ↑1 2 too high 11 Verse of the Day Widget for WP 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 HandyPay for WooCommerce 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Dime Pay – Seamless Payment Processing for Your Business 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #6 ↓2 7 too high 14 Hello Poppet 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 RezBS Connect 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 4 too high 16 Genius Checkout for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too high 17 VMPlayer 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 FX Currency Converter 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↑1 1 too low 19 Tagioo Server-Side Tracking for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 T Ticker Links — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Weather Write 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Socius Marketing Page Taxonomy 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1

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.