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

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 “cryptography”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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

TickTagGO Task Manager shows at wp.org #15 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its — installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN places #3 on merit, 4.8★ from 50 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 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #1 2 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708) wp.org #11 9 too low 3 FastPixel Cache – Optimize Page Speed: Compress Images, Minify, Clean Database & CDN 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #22 19 too low 4 IA Magic Galleries 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 EU AI Label 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 WPCS – WordPress Currency Switcher Professional 800+ · 4.1★ (13) wp.org #20 14 too low 7 Open Access SSO 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Twelve Legs Marketing SSO 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #5 3 too high 9 w3mypq — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Sentio License Manager – Sell Digital AI Products with WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 0Cert — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 ArchivioMD — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 ArchivioID — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Crypto Mailto Defender — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 TuriTop Booking System 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Images Sync for Cloudflare — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 RapID Secure Login 10+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 WebKernelAI Security — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 4 too high 19 MyServerInfo – Memory Usage, PHP Version, Memory Limit, Execution Time, CPU Usage, Disk Usage 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 TickTagGO Task Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 OpenBotAuth – AI Crawler Access Control — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Answer Pilot — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Solviroa – Email Setup & Deliverability — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 KRYQOVA Web Security — · 0.0★ (0) 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.