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

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 “cherry”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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.

R

Ranked above its merit

RT Delete Duplicate Products for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect places #2 on merit, 4.9★ from 1146 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Xpro Theme Builder For Elementor – FREE 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 WP Encryption: Easy HTTPS / SSL & Free SSL certificate, HTTPS redirect 50K+ · 4.9★ (1146) wp.org #18 16 too low 3 CPS | Age Verification 800+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #3 4 Falling Cherry Flower 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 Mattytap Sermons 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 6 Forms for Mailchimp by Optin Cat – Grow Your MailChimp List 2K+ · 4.4★ (77) wp.org #20 14 too low 7 Wpbingo AI Commander for WooCommerce 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Gitium 400+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Cherry Picker 100+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 C Cherry Pick for Query Loop 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 LMSCrafter Gradient Text for Elementor 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Season Particles 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Campaign Monitor Forms by Optin Cat 200+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 DigiFest — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15 EchoAI – AI Chat Assistant 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 3 too high 16 Uruamerica Order Consolidator for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 R RT Delete Duplicate Products for WooCommerce 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 8 too high 18 Boldermail – Email Marketing and Newsletters for WordPress 10+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 FlavourSuite AI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Seazonify — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Mega Backing — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 P Pie and Donut charts 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 BW Post Grid — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 ACSS Purger 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.