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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “comment move”

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 “comment move”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

WP Comment Humility shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 2617 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #1 2 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Comments – GraphComment | AI-Moderated Comment System 400+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #4 5 No Page Comment 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #5 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #14 ↑2 7 too low 8 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #8 ↑6 9 bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #9 ↓2 1 too high 11 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too low 12 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 oopspam Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for WordPress Forms & Comments (No CAPTCHA) 6K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #7 ↑2 7 too high 15 hCaptcha for WP 70K+ · 4.6★ (88) wp.org #15 16 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #24 ↓4 8 too low 17 Blogger Importer Extended 4K+ · 4.7★ (131) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 WP Comment Humility 100+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #6 12 too high 19 Bulk Delete 30K+ · 4.3★ (129) wp.org #23 ↓1 4 too low 20 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #16 ↑5 4 too high 21 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 ↓1 3 too high 22 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 EZ Anti-Spam Comments with reCAPTCHA 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 Auto-Close Comments, Pingbacks and Trackbacks 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.