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

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 “collaborative”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 2 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

Essential Widgets shows at wp.org #6 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps places #7 on merit, 5.0★ from 70 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #7 ↑1 5 too low 3 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 B BuddyPress Docs 6K+ · 4.4★ (35) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Z zipaddr-jp 50K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 Angie – Agentic AI 100K+ · 3.3★ (20) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #23 16 too low 8 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 GlotPress 500+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #11 ↓2 1 too low 11 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 WP All Export – Product Export Add-On for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too low 14 Group Chat & Video Chat by AtomChat 200+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 Hypothesis 200+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow 300+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓1 17 PressForward 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Swift Switcher — Bulk & Custom Post Type Converter 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓2 5 too high 19 Share Cart for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Essential Widgets 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #6 14 too high 21 ContentPen 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑5 12 too high 22 WP fail2ban Blocklist 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Document Embedder Addons for Elementor – Embed Documents in Elementor Websites 6K+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Smart Related Products – AI-Inspired Recommendations for WooCommerce 900+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 10 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.