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

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 editing”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Docs shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 60+ 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

Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps places #6 on merit, 5.0★ from 70 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 WP All Export – Product Export Add-On for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 B BuddyPress Docs 6K+ · 4.4★ (35) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too low 5 Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow 300+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 Open User Map – Interactive Leaflet Maps 10K+ · 5.0★ (70) wp.org #14 8 too low 7 EventON – Events Calendar 6K+ · 4.1★ (44) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars 10K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 PressForward 100+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 BuddyForms 800+ · 4.8★ (180) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 Angie – Agentic AI 100K+ · 3.3★ (20) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 KeepInMind Dashboard Notes 300+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 Sugar Calendar – Events Calendar, Event Tickets, and Events Management Platform 10K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #20 ↑1 7 too low 14 FrontEdit – Live Frontend Block Editor 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 BuddyForms Ultimate Member 100+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #15 16 Docswrite – Export Google Docs to Your Site ✨ 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Share Cart for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Docs 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 11 too high 19 Claudaborative Editing — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 3 too high 20 Views for Elementor Forms – Display & Edit Submissions on your site frontend 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↑1 3 too low 21 WordSocket — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Newspack Newsletters 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 ONLYOFFICE Docs 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 1 too low 24 Collabora Online WP 20+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓3 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.