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

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 “cheese”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 3 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

DeMomentSomTres Wine and Cheese Catalog shows at wp.org #14 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 10+ 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

Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering places #3 on merit, 4.6★ from 107 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 FooSales – Point of Sale (POS) for WooCommerce 600+ · 3.2★ (13) wp.org #2 ↓1 1 too low 2 FoodBook Lite – Online Food Ordering System 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 ↑1 1 too high 3 Five Star Restaurant Menu and Food Ordering 5K+ · 4.6★ (107) wp.org #15 ↓1 12 too low 4 Pay4All Shop 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 5 Weight Products for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 R Rayzee Pet Counter — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 7 Addovio Product Add-ons — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 PizzaTier — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Flavolist — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Essence Measure and Price for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 C Category Template Hierarchy 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Food Labels PDF for WooCommerce – Allergens, Batch & Expiry by La Terreta — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 CodeBold Commerce – POS and Inventory for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Plattivo – Restaurant Ordering, QR Menu & Kitchen Display for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Sidcraft Commerce for Sidcraft Page Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 B Brillat-Savarin – Admin — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 Embed SalesVu — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 DeMomentSomTres Wine and Cheese Catalog 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 Like Cheese 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 Dokan Product Duplicator 70+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓1 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.