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

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 “compatibility”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Eli's PHP Compatibility Scanner shows at wp.org #3 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 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 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #4 ↑2 3 too low 2 Plugin Compatibility Checker 9K+ · 4.2★ (12) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Better Plugin Compatibility Control 4K+ · 4.3★ (19) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too low 5 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #6 ↓2 1 too low 6 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #11 ↑8 3 too low 9 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 BuddyPress 90K+ · 4.1★ (375) wp.org #10 11 PHP Compatibility Checker 200K+ · 2.7★ (131) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #14 ↑8 2 too low 13 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #21 ↑2 8 too low 14 Product Filter for WooCommerce by WBW 50K+ · 4.8★ (325) wp.org #18 ↑5 4 too low 15 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #22 ↓8 7 too low 16 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #24 ↓5 6 too low 19 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #19 ↓4 20 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #8 ↑1 12 too high 21 Eli's PHP Compatibility Scanner 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 18 too high 22 WooCommerce Stripe Payment Gateway 700K+ · 3.1★ (237) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 E Events Manager and WPML Compatibility 1K+ · 2.8★ (13) wp.org #13 ↓2 10 too high 24 BrightLeaf Digital PHP Compatibility Scanner 500+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 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.