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

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 “climbing”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 3 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Funbutler Booking System shows at wp.org #4 but places #9 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Datafeedr Product Sets 4K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Surfer – WordPress Plugin 6K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Podcast Analytics for OP3 20+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 WP-DownloadManager 3K+ · 4.0★ (37) wp.org #13 8 too low 6 TrustLens – Fraud Prevention & Chargeback Defense for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 7 Vertical Image Slider – Responsive Thumbnail Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Montonio for WooCommerce 10K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #17 9 too low 9 Funbutler Booking System 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 5 too high 10 Clarity SEO 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Playard — Sports Facility Booking System for Courts, Fields, Pitches, Venues and More 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Inkslip – Liability Waiver & Release Forms — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 PiedWeb AI Polyglot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Metronyx Headless CMS Connector — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 CAPI Suite: Meta Pixel, Pinterest & TikTok for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 HarborBook — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 C ClimbPress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Climbing Cardboard — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Whimcu – WooCommerce Customer and Product Analytics — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Kletterpartner-Suche 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Disposable Email Blocker for WooCommerce – Block Fake and Temporary Emails at Checkout — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 NeoGrow: Loyalty Points, Rewards Program & Photo Reviews for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Portamo Backup — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Antradus AI Lite — AI SEO Content Writer & Image Creator — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.