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

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 “catering”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

GemBooking – Appointment Booking, Booking Calendar & Reservations shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200+ 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

YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 323 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (108) wp.org #1 2 Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 50K+ · 3.7★ (59) wp.org #2 3 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Smart Online Order for Clover 1K+ · 4.9★ (34) wp.org #4 5 Food Menu – Restaurant Menu & Online Ordering for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too low 6 Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 WP Travel – Ultimate Travel Booking System, Tour Management Engine 3K+ · 4.7★ (164) wp.org #15 ↑1 8 too low 8 YASR – Yet Another Star Rating Plugin for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (323) wp.org #21 ↓1 13 too low 9 ST Demo Importer 800+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Emailchef 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too high 11 Wedding RSVP – Wedding Guest List, Meal Choices & RSVP Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 Zip Code Redirect 80+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Two – BNPL for businesses 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 WPElemento Importer 8K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 V Video & Photo Gallery for Ultimate Member 100+ · 2.3★ (12) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 GemBooking – Appointment Booking, Booking Calendar & Reservations 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓3 9 too high 18 Web Integrate Catering Requests — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 NMI for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too high 20 Euqin: Catering Ordering for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Backend Google Translate 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 4 too high 22 RTL/LTR Switcher 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 2 too low 23 DBlocks CodePro 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 Fast Events 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.