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

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 “circuit”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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.

Ranked above its merit

SardexPay for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #8 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress places #3 on merit, 4.5★ from 55 reviews, but shows at wp.org #9. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #1 2 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 AMP WP – Google AMP For WordPress 600+ · 4.5★ (55) wp.org #9 6 too low 4 Nexi XPay 7K+ · 3.0★ (7) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Smalk AI Analytics 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Wonderful Fatal Circuit Breaker 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Seekmodo Search — · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 11 too low 8 OrangeSMTP – SMTP, Email Log & Failure Alerts — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Circuit Breaker — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Profound Agent Analytics 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 I-PR AVIF Converter – Automatic Image Optimization 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↑1 1 too high 12 PerfLocale — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 10 too low 13 Substack Importer 1K+ · 2.8★ (4) wp.org #5 8 too high 14 FatalGuard – PHP Error Log Viewer, Debug Log & Fatal Error Alerts 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 15 Wonderful Disposable Email Blocker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 4 too low 16 InTouch Integrity Guard 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too high 17 CartMagic – Dynamic Pricing & Discounts for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 KloudStack Observability for Azure 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓2 3 too low 19 AgeWallet – Age Verification & Age Estimation for WordPress & WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑6 2 too high 20 A Alphabetical Pagination 30+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 Myrk Feature Flags — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 2 too low 22 Easy Error Log 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓2 2 too low 23 SardexPay for WooCommerce 30+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #8 15 too high 24 ATOL ECOM Payment Plugin for WooCommerce 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.