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

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 “congress”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

Dynamic Post – AI Content – White Paper – Peer Review – Tax & Accounting Sites shows at wp.org #10 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 4 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #1 2 GS Books Showcase – Display Books in Grid, Slider & More | Library for WordPress 500+ · 4.8★ (42) wp.org #2 3 MultiStage Event Planner – Multi-Track Conference & Congress Schedule — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #3 4 WP ADA Compliance Check Basic 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 C Capitol GAINS: CreativEngine Congressional Utilities — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Ziteboard Online Whiteboard 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Serapeum Multi-Catalog Bibliographic Search — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Redact — Blackout & Erasure Poetry — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 2 too high 9 Zentria Flow for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 Civic Connect Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Amber 50+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 Report Bad Buyers and Screen New Ones 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 C Civic Lookup 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 Dynamic Post – AI Content – White Paper – Peer Review – Tax & Accounting Sites 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Franklin 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Blackout Congress — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 P Project Megaphone Banner 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 18 P PMC Post Savior — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 C CENSOR ME — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 L Legislator Search 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 R Real Time Congress Vote Tracker — · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #18 3 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.