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

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 “construction”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20. 3 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

WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction shows at wp.org #6 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 397 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 Under Construction 600K+ · 4.8★ (1285) wp.org #1 2 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode Page & Under Construction 10K+ · 4.8★ (317) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Under Construction, Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 10K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Maintenance 1M+ · 4.4★ (869) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 Royal Addons for Elementor – Addons and Templates Kit for Elementor 600K+ · 4.8★ (612) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Insert Headers And Footers 200K+ · 5.0★ (135) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder 400K+ · 4.3★ (874) wp.org #12 ↑1 5 too low 8 CMP – Coming Soon & Maintenance Plugin by NiteoThemes 200K+ · 4.7★ (326) wp.org #14 ↑8 6 too low 9 LoginPress | wp-login Custom Login Page Customizer 200K+ · 4.8★ (1077) wp.org #15 ↓1 6 too low 10 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Really Simple Under Construction Page – Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode 1K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 too high 12 WP Maintenance 60K+ · 4.7★ (98) wp.org #17 5 too low 13 Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib 5K+ · 4.7★ (42) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Ultimate Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Under Construction – Gutenberg Block Builder & Landing Page 9K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 Login Logout Menu 20K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #21 ↓3 6 too low 16 Remove "Powered by WordPress" 20K+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #24 ↓1 8 too low 17 SKT Templates – 100% Free Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg 20K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too high 18 Eazy Under Construction 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 10 too high 19 WP Maintenance Mode & Site Under Construction 3K+ · 3.5★ (4) wp.org #6 ↓1 13 too high 20 Siteready Coming Soon Under Construction 4K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 GW Under Construction Mode 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↑2 3 too high 22 Animated/Illustrated Under construction plug-in for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓3 23 Super Easy Maintenance Mode – Coming Soon & Under Construction 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓4 4 too high 24 Catch Under Construction 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓2 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.