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

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 “confirm”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 of the top 20. 4 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

Publish Confirm Message shows at wp.org #5 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 100+ 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

Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder places #7 on merit, 4.4★ from 1397 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Checkout Field Editor (Checkout Manager) for WooCommerce 400K+ · 4.9★ (1056) wp.org #10 ↓2 8 too low 3 Five Star Restaurant Reservations – WordPress Booking Plugin 10K+ · 4.7★ (211) wp.org #6 ↑7 3 too low 4 WP Rollback – Rollback Plugins and Themes 200K+ · 4.9★ (215) wp.org #11 ↓2 7 too low 5 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #14 ↓4 9 too low 6 Customize WordPress Emails and Alerts – Better Notifications for WP 30K+ · 4.8★ (184) wp.org #13 ↓2 7 too low 7 Ninja Forms – Contact Form Builder with Calculators, Quizzes, Signatures & AI Form Builder 500K+ · 4.4★ (1397) wp.org #21 14 too low 8 Points Management System For Gamification, Ranks, Badges, and Loyalty Rewards Program – myCred 10K+ · 4.6★ (472) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Confirm Theme Structure 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 7 too high 10 Confirm Plus Contact Form 7 7K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 9 too high 11 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #22 ↓2 11 too low 12 Redux Framework 900K+ · 4.4★ (273) wp.org #24 ↓10 12 too low 13 Extra Product Options For WooCommerce | Custom Product Addons and Fields 30K+ · 4.9★ (219) wp.org #23 10 too low 14 Easy Appointments 10K+ · 4.3★ (131) wp.org #17 ↑2 3 too low 15 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 M MW WP Form 200K+ · 4.2★ (23) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too high 17 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Afterpay Gateway for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.6★ (45) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 PixelcraftDev Confirm Payment for Woocommerce 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 15 too high 20 EU Order Withdrawal Button for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #20 ↓2 21 Cookie Confirm CMP 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 Norick Confirm for Contact Form 7 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↑6 13 too high 23 Publish Confirm Message 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↑1 18 too high 24 WaMate Confirm – Order Confirmation 60+ · 2.5★ (2) wp.org #7 ↓2 17 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.