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

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 poll”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Crowdsignal Forms shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 200K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 3213 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 wp.org
1 YOP Poll 10K+ · 4.4★ (451) wp.org #1 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2131) wp.org #2 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14377) wp.org #6 ↓2 3 too low 4 Poll Maker by AYS – Versus Polls, Anonymous Polls, Image Polls 7K+ · 4.4★ (91) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 WP-Polls 40K+ · 4.2★ (136) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 TS Poll – Survey, Versus Poll, Image Poll, Video Poll 3K+ · 4.7★ (235) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 UserFeedback – Create Interactive Feedback Form, User Surveys, and Polls in Seconds 200K+ · 4.8★ (305) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Democracy Poll 7K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1432) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3213) wp.org #22 ↑1 12 too low 11 Brave – Create Popup, Optins, Lead Generation, Survey, Sticky Elements & Interactive Content 20K+ · 4.8★ (209) wp.org #16 5 too low 12 Quiz Maker, Poll Maker & Survey Maker by Opinion Stage 6K+ · 4.4★ (277) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups 50K+ · 4.6★ (82) wp.org #15 2 too low 14 SureForms – Contact Form Builder, AI Forms, Payment Form, Survey & Quiz 500K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 ePoll – Contest Poll Survey & Voting 1K+ · 3.9★ (24) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Crowdsignal Dashboard – Polls, Surveys & more 200K+ · 2.7★ (34) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 TotalPoll for Polls and Contests 1K+ · 4.3★ (45) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Pollify – Feedback Polls, Anonymous Polls, Up/down Voting, NPS Surveys, Export data 60+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Crowdsignal Forms 200K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 SurveyX Builder – Survey, Poll, Quiz & Feedback Form 2K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 1 too high 21 CBX Poll 60+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #21 22 WP Easy Poll 60+ · 3.3★ (4) wp.org #14 8 too high 23 Polls CP 400+ · 2.6★ (5) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 OpinionCamp – Poll Block 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.