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

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 “commenting”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20.

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

Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow shows at wp.org #4 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 300+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More places #8 on merit, 4.7★ from 1596 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Comments – wpDiscuz 60K+ · 4.7★ (581) wp.org #1 2 Photo Gallery, Sliders, Proofing and Themes – NextGEN Gallery 300K+ · 4.3★ (4342) wp.org #2 3 Photo Gallery by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Image Gallery 100K+ · 4.5★ (1581) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too low 4 W WP Photo Album Plus 10K+ · 4.7★ (199) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Disable Comments 100K+ · 3.8★ (25) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #7 ↑2 1 too low 7 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #12 ↓3 5 too low 8 Envira Gallery – Image Photo Gallery, Albums, Video Gallery, Slideshows & More 100K+ · 4.7★ (1596) wp.org #19 ↓5 11 too low 9 Genial Comments 4K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #8 ↑9 1 too high 10 SureFeedback Client Site 5K+ · 4.0★ (39) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Disqus Conditional Load 3K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Disqus Comment System 30K+ · 2.7★ (219) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too high 13 Multicollab: Content Team Collaboration and Editorial Workflow 300+ · 3.7★ (10) wp.org #4 ↓1 9 too high 14 Edit Flow 4K+ · 4.2★ (50) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 Sliced Invoices – WordPress Invoice Plugin 4K+ · 4.6★ (117) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16 Forget Spam Comment 9K+ · 5.0★ (46) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 Kama SpamBlock 4K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too low 18 Simply Disable Comments 8K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too high 19 RSFirewall! 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 WP Discourse 1K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 21 Site Notes: Site Feedback, Site Notes with Sitewide Visual Commenting 20+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Uix Shortcodes 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23 Chatroll Live Chat 200+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #21 2 too high 24 Stop Media Comment Spamming 800+ · 3.0★ (6) wp.org #22 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.