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

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 “close”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 4 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 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

Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 200+ 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.

Buried gem

Popups for Divi places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 441 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (878) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Open Close Store for WooCommerce – Business Hours & Order Scheduling 600+ · 3.4★ (41) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (865) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #6 ↓3 2 too low 5 One Click Close Comments 5K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 WPFront Notification Bar 50K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #15 8 too low 8 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 FancyBox for WordPress 30K+ · 4.6★ (92) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Free Shipping Label and Progress Bar for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (43) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #18 ↓2 7 too low 12 Store Vacation Lite for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (188) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #16 ↓2 3 too low 14 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #14 ↑5 15 Lightweight Accordion 10K+ · 5.0★ (60) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 WP Lightbox 2 20K+ · 4.4★ (89) wp.org #22 ↓4 6 too low 17 LoftLoader 70K+ · 4.5★ (33) wp.org #17 18 T Themify Popup 8K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #21 ↓1 3 too low 19 Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 YITH WooCommerce Quick View 90K+ · 3.8★ (27) wp.org #19 ↑4 1 too high 21 Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↑1 17 too high 22 VS Website Closed 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 12 too high 23 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #20 ↑1 3 too high 24 Website Open/Closed Toggle 500+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 17 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.