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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “category sort”

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 “category sort”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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

Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #10 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Relevanssi – A Better Search places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 406 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Sort Order 6K+ · 4.5★ (17) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Category AJAX Filter – Posts, Custom Post Types & Product Filter 6K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #3 4 Category Posts Block 40K+ · 4.5★ (79) wp.org #4 5 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1525) wp.org #11 ↑3 6 too low 6 Post Types Order 600K+ · 4.5★ (296) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Simple Custom Post Order 300K+ · 4.8★ (587) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 List categories 5K+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 Relevanssi – A Better Search 100K+ · 4.8★ (406) wp.org #19 ↑1 10 too low 10 Posts Table with Search & Sort 3K+ · 4.6★ (19) wp.org #8 ↑4 2 too high 11 Product Sort and Display for WooCommerce 2K+ · 3.1★ (45) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 PublishPress Taxonomies – Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – Autotagger Automatically Add Terms 40K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Same Category Posts 3K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 Blog Filter – Post Grid Filter by Category or Tag 7K+ · 4.9★ (81) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 Media Library Organizer – Folders, File Manager & Media Categories 20K+ · 4.7★ (150) wp.org #22 ↑1 7 too low 16 Tabbed Category Product Listing for Woocommerce 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 P Post Order By Category 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 CatFolders – WordPress Media Library Folders & Categories 6K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Real Category Management: Content Management in Category Folders 2K+ · 4.1★ (17) wp.org #13 ↓5 6 too high 20 Product Category Showcase for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 T The Taxonomy Sort 60+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Smart Product Sort 30+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Category Filter Block 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 Amitry Product & Category Slider for WooCommerce 100+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.