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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “child support”

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 “child support”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 2 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

WPS Child Theme Generator shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 3220 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SVG Support 1M+ · 4.8★ (356) wp.org #1 2 MainWP Child – Securely Connects to the MainWP Dashboard to Manage Multiple Sites 700K+ · 5.0★ (71) wp.org #2 3 CC Child Pages 9K+ · 4.9★ (49) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 WPvivid — Backup, Migration & Staging 900K+ · 4.9★ (1568) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 WP Child Theme Generator 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3220) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 too low 9 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #15 5 too low 11 Awesome Support – WordPress HelpDesk & Support Plugin 6K+ · 3.5★ (194) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 Orbit Fox: Duplicate Page, Menu Icons, SVG Support, Cookie Notice, Custom Fonts & More 100K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #14 ↑3 2 too low 13 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 MainWP Child Reports 100K+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #3 11 too high 15 SureFeedback Client Site 5K+ · 4.0★ (39) wp.org #9 6 too high 16 Category Order and Taxonomy Terms Order 500K+ · 4.5★ (162) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Nested Pages 90K+ · 4.7★ (126) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 JS Categories List Widget 1K+ · 4.8★ (15) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 Widget Context 30K+ · 4.5★ (98) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 C Child Theme Creator by Orbisius 10K+ · 4.0★ (44) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 WPS Child Theme Generator 6K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 16 too high 23 WPvivid Backup for MainWP 10K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24 Child Pages Card 80+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #11 13 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.