wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “course maker”

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

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Nias course | دوره ساز نیاس shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms places #11 on merit, 4.4★ from 433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #1 ↑1 2

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #2 ↓1 3

WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #3 4

Form Maker by 10Web – Mobile-Friendly Drag & Drop Contact Form Builder 30K+ · 4.5★ (778) wp.org #4 5

Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221) wp.org #8 3 too low 6

Popup Builder & Popup Maker for WordPress – OptinMonster Email Marketing and Lead Generation 1M+ · 4.3★ (821) wp.org #5 1 too high 7

Formidable Forms – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Payment, Calculator Form & Custom Form Builder 300K+ · 4.8★ (1388) wp.org #9 2 too low 8

Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 6K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #6 2 too high 9

MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too low 10

AutomatorWP – No-Code Workflow Automation, Integration & Webhooks Plugin, now with AI 6K+ · 4.8★ (202) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11

Happyforms – Form Builder for WordPress: Drag & Drop Contact Forms, Surveys, Payments & Multipurpose Forms 20K+ · 4.4★ (433) wp.org #22 11 too low 12

Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #14 ↑1 2 too low 13

MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14

Fox LMS – eLearning & Course Builder 60+ · 5.0★ (19) thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too high 15

Confetti – Celebration Effects for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too low 16

Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #21 ↑2 5 too low 17

Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18

Zoho Flow – No-Code Workflow Automation 5K+ · 5.0★ (13) thin reviews wp.org #12 ↑2 6 too high 19

Chartify – WordPress Chart Plugin 3K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #18 ↓5 1 too high 20

Nias course | دوره ساز نیاس 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #7 13 too high 21

Acadlix LMS – AI Quiz Maker, Online Exam & Course Plugin for WordPress 40+ · 5.0★ (3) thin reviews wp.org #10 11 too high 22

PressPrimer Quiz – AI Quiz Maker, Exam Builder & LMS Assessment Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too high 23

Quizably – Quiz Maker, Personality Quiz & Survey Builder 200+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #13 ↓2 10 too high 24

myCred Addons – Ultimate myCred Modules To Support WordPress Gamification and Loyalty Rewards 400+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #19 5 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.