Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 favicon”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Preview Link Generator shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce places #4 on merit, 4.8★ from 517 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 WP Custom Admin Interface 30K+ · 4.7★ (160) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #2 3 Quill Forms | Conversational Multi Step Forms, Surveys & quizzes 3K+ · 4.8★ (44) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 CartFlows – Funnel Builder & Checkout Plugin for WooCommerce 200K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #14 10 too low 5 Advanced Settings 3 200+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Alada Favicon – Conditional Site Icons 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Product Labels, Quick View, Buy Now, Pre-Orders, Frequently Bought Together & More for WooCommerce – Merchant 9K+ · 4.2★ (11) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #12 4 too low 9 Discount Rules for WooCommerce – Disco | Dynamic Pricing, Conditions, Bulk, Bundle, BOGO 5K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 A Action Scheduler 20K+ · 3.5★ (13) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Preview Link Generator 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Capo – Head Optimizer 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 4 too high 14 FlashSpeed 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 A Artificial Poets Reusable Components CDN — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 Coronavirus Alert Bar 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 WP Alert Bar 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Clicks Admin Toolkit — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Newsroom OS – Google Discover, Google News, Schema & Editorial Workflow 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 dtElection Poll Embed — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 id:CRM Contacts & Companies — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 H HTML5 Boilerplate 40+ · 4.3★ (3) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 W WP Favicons plug-in 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 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.