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

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 “create”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 6 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

WP Create Multiple Posts & Pages shows at wp.org #8 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.9★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Popup Builder – Create highly converting, mobile friendly marketing popups. 200K+ · 4.7★ (2215) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↑5 1 too low 4

Create Block Theme 20K+ · 4.8★ (38) wp.org #3 1 too high 5

Shortcoder — Create Shortcodes for Anything 100K+ · 4.9★ (227) wp.org #6 1 too low 6

Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7

LearnPress – WordPress LMS Plugin for Create and Sell Online Courses 70K+ · 4.3★ (597) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #5 ↓1 2 too high 8

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #14 6 too low 9

The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #11 2 too low 10

WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) throws errorsnot PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #7 ↓2 3 too high 11

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too low 12

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #10 ↑2 2 too high 13

UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (309) wp.org #13 14

Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #18 4 too low 15

Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #17 2 too low 16

Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) not PHP-current wp.org #16 17

WP Create Multiple Posts & Pages 1K+ · 4.9★ (10) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↑2 9 too high 18

Real Custom Post Order: Create a custom order for your content 8K+ · 4.8★ (42) not PHP-current wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20

Linguator – AI Auto Translate & Create Multilingual Sites 3K+ · 4.6★ (20) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑7 5 too high 21

Popup Box – Easily Create WordPress Popups 6K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews wp.org #19 2 too high 22

Hover Effects – easily create any hover effect 7K+ · 4.8★ (17) thin reviews wp.org #23 ↑1 1 too low 23

Modal Window – create popup modal window 10K+ · 3.8★ (36) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too high 24

Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #24

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.