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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “class routine”

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 “class routine”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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 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

Teydea Password Reset – Force Password Reset & Expiration shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 500+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 215 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Gym Builder – Class Timetable & Booking for Gyms, Fitness & Yoga Studios 100+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy 40K+ · 4.7★ (591) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Kama Thumbnail 8K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Gwolle Guestbook 20K+ · 4.8★ (113) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Branda – White Label & Branding, Free Login Page Customizer 10K+ · 4.5★ (30) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Bricks Navigator 8K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Recent Posts Widget With Thumbnails 100K+ · 4.8★ (215) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 11 Educare – Students & Result Management System 600+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 FlexTable – Data Table Sync with Google Sheets 3K+ · 4.6★ (35) wp.org #12 13 New User Approve 20K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 The School Management – Education & Learning ERP 700+ · 4.5★ (15) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Product Enquiry for WooCommerce (Now with AI Assistant) 10K+ · 4.1★ (68) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Advanced Views – Display Framework – Gutenberg/Elementor/Shortcode 3K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 All-in-One Sticky Anything – Click to Call, Fixed Widget, Sticky Header, Menu & Sidebar 1K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 K KIA Subtitle 7K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #18 19 OneClick Chat to Order 30K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Import Meetup Events – Meetup Sync & Event Aggregator for WordPress 300+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 List Child Pages Shortcode 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Teydea Password Reset – Force Password Reset & Expiration 500+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 SmartParallax – Parallax Scroll Effects & Scroll Animations 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 Gym Class Pass Manager — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 1 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.