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← Rankings

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

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 “citizens”, 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

Device Detector shows at wp.org #15 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #1 2 M Mesmerize Companion 50K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #2 3 APCu Manager 10K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #3 4 GDPR CCPA Compliance & Cookie Consent Banner 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 5 M Materialis Companion 6K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 DecaLog 1K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Sessions 900+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑2 9 OPcache Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too high 10 oEmbed Manager 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Squad Modules Lite – Free Divi 5 & Divi 4 Modules for Divi Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓1 9 too low 12 Code Engine – PHP Snippets, AI Functions & Automation for WordPress 800+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 Rox Appointment Booking – Event, Calendar & Appointment Scheduling 2K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 5 too low 14 WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 G GL Import External Images 700+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 ↓2 8 too low 16 Apache Status & Info 90+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Vibes 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 MailArchiver 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 ATmosphere 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓7 7 too high 20 Chaport — Live Chat & Chatbots 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 IP Locator 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Cacheability 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 Traffic 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Device Detector 500+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #15 9 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.