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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content hash”

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 “content hash”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder shows at wp.org #2 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 2051 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #6 5 too low 2 Hash Elements 5K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too low 4 Passster – Password Protect Pages and Content 10K+ · 4.2★ (60) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Hash Link Scroll Offset 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Popups for Divi 100K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #12 ↑10 6 too low 7 Joli Table Of Contents – Table of Contents with Gutenberg Block & Shortcode 7K+ · 4.9★ (43) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 Really Simple CAPTCHA 300K+ · 4.2★ (131) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 Export Media URLs 7K+ · 5.0★ (29) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #17 ↑2 7 too low 11 Robo Gallery – Photo & Image Slider 40K+ · 4.3★ (406) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 LuckyWP Table of Contents 90K+ · 4.9★ (884) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 Accordions 20K+ · 4.5★ (90) wp.org #11 ↑2 3 too high 15 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Boxzilla – WordPress Popup Builder 20K+ · 4.8★ (133) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too low 17 Hash Form – Drag & Drop Form Builder 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 Content Mask 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 wpForo Forum 20K+ · 4.7★ (390) wp.org #22 ↑1 3 too low 20 EU Withdrawal and Legal Guarantee Compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #21 22 Custom Order Numbers for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.2★ (25) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Subscriptions for WooCommerce Recurring Payments with Membership Content Restriction 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 8 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.