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← Rankings

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

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 “config”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 5 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

Web Worker Offloading shows at wp.org #12 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 491 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 WP Sitemaps Config 700+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #1 2 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Hummingbird Performance – Cache & Page Speed Optimization for Core Web Vitals | Critical CSS | Minify CSS | Defer CSS Javascript | CDN 70K+ · 4.7★ (1488) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 WPVulnerability 10K+ · 5.0★ (20) wp.org #7 ↓2 8 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #5 ↑1 4 too high 10 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #20 ↑3 10 too low 11 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 WP Multilang – Translation and Multilingual Plugin 10K+ · 4.3★ (100) wp.org #16 ↓5 4 too low 13 Brozzme DB Prefix & Tools Addons 9K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Remove Dashboard Access 30K+ · 4.6★ (78) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 WP SAML Auth 7K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 phpinfo() WP – Site Health, PHP Compatibility & Server Audit 3K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #13 ↑2 5 too high 19 Easy PHP Settings 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #17 ↑2 2 too high 20 Podlove Web Player 4K+ · 3.7★ (14) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #22 23 ImageLinks – Interactive Image Builder with Hotspots 1K+ · 3.9★ (9) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Web Worker Offloading 10K+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑2 12 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.