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

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 “cse”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 of the top 20. 6 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

TrackingMore Order Tracking for WooCommerce (Free plan available) shows at wp.org #6 but places #12 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

AI Content Wizard Lite — SEO Content & Planner for OpenAI, Claude, DeepSeek & Gemini 10+ · 5.0★ (24) thin reviews wp.org #2 1 too low 2

Search with Google 70+ · 3.0★ (4) thin reviewslow rating, top placementstale but ranked wp.org #1 1 too high 3

WP Google Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (28) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk stale but ranked wp.org #5 2 too low 4

Stock Market Ticker 2K+ · 3.7★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #8 4 too low 5

TechByIt SMTP – WordPress SMTP & Email Delivery — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #3 2 too high 6

GPT Comment Agent — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 2 too high 7

Stock Quotes List 500+ · 4.4★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #11 4 too low 8

Stockdio Historical Chart 800+ · 3.9★ (7) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #10 2 too low 9

Stock Market Overview 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #7 2 too high 10

Stock Market News 400+ · 3.7★ (3) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #9 1 too high 11

XML Data Feed for Shopbot CSE — · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #12 1 too low 12

TrackingMore Order Tracking for WooCommerce (Free plan available) 700+ · 4.0★ (2) closure risk thin reviewsstale but ranked wp.org #6 6 too high 13

Calliope — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #15 2 too low 14

BinaryPH AI SEO — · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #14 15 S SearchCloak 20+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too low 16

Доставка КСЭ для WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 3 too high 17 U UW CALS Google Custom Search Engine 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #19 2 too low 18 S Safe Google Search for schools – Ad free 10+ · 0.0★ (0) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #20 2 too low 19

RDP Google Custom Search 10+ · 5.0★ (1) closure risk thin reviews wp.org #17 2 too high 20 S Server-Side Google Search 10+ · 0.0★ (0) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #18 2 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.