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

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 “chmod”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 20 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.

O

Ranked above its merit

Open Links Directory shows at wp.org #5 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.8★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails places #6 on merit, 4.8★ from 215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #9 8 too low 2 Htaccess File Editor – Safely Edit Htaccess File 40K+ · 5.0★ (102) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too low 3 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #13 ↑2 10 too low 4 Cache Enabler 100K+ · 4.3★ (139) wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too low 5 S SSH SFTP Updater Support 10K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #14 ↓1 9 too low 6 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #20 14 too low 7 Enable Media Replace 600K+ · 4.4★ (302) wp.org #17 ↑5 10 too low 8 Ask My Content – AI Search Chatbot 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 7 too high 9 Database Backup for WordPress 60K+ · 4.5★ (66) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #21 ↓4 11 too low 11 WP Original Media Path 5K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Fleet Agent Site Manager – Securely Connects Your Sites to a WPMgr Dashboard 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 9 too high 13 SiteCare – File Permissions Manager 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Fatal Error Notify 6K+ · 4.8★ (18) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 IntentDeep Virtual Files – AI-Ready: Robots.txt, Security.txt, Ads.txt, LLMS.txt 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑2 11 too high 16 Nova Scan Lite – Malware Scanner, Backdoor & File Integrity — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 10 too high 17 R RafaelMarreca Push Dispatch for Firebase Cloud Messaging — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 B Badwolf Web IRC Client — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 Reset file and folder permissions 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 OptiPub — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 10 too high 21 NETOPIA Payments Payment Gateway 10K+ · 3.0★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 NS Chat — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 ArchivioMD — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 7 too high 24 O Open Links Directory 10+ · 1.8★ (8) wp.org #5 ↓1 19 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.