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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “conditional branch”

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 “conditional branch”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot shows at wp.org #5 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ 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

Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer places #6 on merit, 4.5★ from 125 reviews, but shows at wp.org #12. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Bit Form – Contact Form, Payment Forms, Multi Step Forms, Calculator & Custom Form Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (259) wp.org #2 ↑3 1 too low 2 WPCafe – Restaurant Menu, Online Food Ordering & Table Booking System 5K+ · 4.6★ (113) wp.org #4 ↓1 2 too low 3 M Multi Device Switcher 10K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 VK Dynamic If Block 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Social Media Auto Poster – Schedule & Publish to Buffer 7K+ · 4.5★ (125) wp.org #12 ↓1 6 too low 7 Agile Store Locator 10K+ · 4.9★ (59) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Genesis Simple Sidebars 10K+ · 4.4★ (27) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 Event Espresso – Event Registration & Ticketing Sales 500+ · 4.4★ (136) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too low 10 VPSUForm – Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder with Email Automation 200+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓2 4 too high 11 Dynamic Team Manager – Team Member Showcase with grid, slider, table Elementor widget & shortcode 900+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too low 12 Dropshipping XML for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #10 2 too high 13 Extra Product Options for WooCommerce 600+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 HelpGent – Video Funnels and Conversational Forms for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too low 15 Ultimate Form – Multi-Step Form Builder, Conversion Analytics & Lead Forms 60+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 2 too low 16 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑2 11 too high 17 Multi Branch for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↓1 10 too high 18 Kodlo Product Gallery for Elementor 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Open Access SSO 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Conversational Forms for Elementor Forms 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 RescueFill — Abandoned Lead Recovery & Automation Plugin 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 MenuVerse – Mobile Bottom Menu & App-Style Navigation Bar 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Pantheon Advanced Page Cache 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too high 24 Multiloca Lite – Multi Location Inventory Management for WooCommerce 70+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #19 5 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.