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

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 “cropper”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WP Image Cropper shows at wp.org #3 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 80+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Crop-Thumbnails places #4 on merit, 4.6★ from 67 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 SysBasics Customize My Account for WooCommerce – Live My Account Customizer 7K+ · 4.2★ (33) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Image Aspect Ratio Crop Field for Advanced Custom Fields 20K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 Crop-Thumbnails 40K+ · 4.6★ (67) wp.org #13 9 too low 5 Croppy – AI assisted image cropper 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Artist Image Generator: DALL-E AI for Image Content & Customizable WC Products. Upscaler. 90+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #22 16 too low 7 AI Image Generator – Easy image creation with AI 100+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #20 13 too low 8 Ultimate Watermark – Image Watermark, Image Protection & Bulk Watermarking 1K+ · 3.3★ (11) wp.org #14 6 too low 9 Code and core – Smart Image Ratio 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 WP Image Cropper 80+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #3 ↓1 7 too high 11 Custom Profile Picture – Replace Gravatar with Your Own Images 300+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 CommVatar – Custom Avatars, Captcha & Comment Socialiser — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 QRcdr – Frontend Generator for Custom and Dynamic QR Codes 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 CubeLaunch 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 7 too high 15 BFPC Image Cropper — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 RS Customer File Uploads for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Singular Alerts – One Gorgeous Alert Block and Alert Shortcode 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 P Picture grabber, resizer and cropper 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 GDY Modular Content 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 NDV Product Image Upload for WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too high 21 Gatewell — Image SEO: Required Alt Text & Upload Rules — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 22 I Image Cropper 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 SquareOffs 10+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 Responsive cropped Yummy images, pictures and thumbnails 10+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #23 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.