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

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 “changelog”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 4 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

Changelogger shows at wp.org #10 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #5 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. 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 #3 ↑1 2 too low 2 Docket Cache – Object Cache Accelerator 20K+ · 4.9★ (50) wp.org #4 ↑10 2 too low 3 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too low 4 Changeloger – Changelog, Release Notes, Roadmap & Feature Requests 200+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #12 7 too low 6 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 WP Robots Txt 40K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1387) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 CBX Changelog & Release Note 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 8 too high 10 Modern Cart – WooCommerce Side Cart & Popup Cart 60K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #5 ↑1 5 too high 11 Link Library 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 Democracy Poll 6K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Fourteen Colors 8K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Changelog as a Service – Publish, Display, and Communicate Beautiful Changelogs 10+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #7 ↓4 8 too high 16 Companion Auto Update 40K+ · 4.8★ (105) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17 Bootstrap Blocks 10K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Link Juice Keeper 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too high 19 Patchstack – WordPress & Plugins Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (61) wp.org #21 ↑3 2 too low 20 Clone Posts 10K+ · 4.3★ (22) wp.org #20 ↓3 21 Pinyin Slugs 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too high 22 Changelogger 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 MailerLite – WooCommerce integration 30K+ · 2.8★ (64) wp.org #18 ↑3 5 too high 24 Sleekplan – User Feedback, Roadmap & Changelog 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.