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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “css collaboration”

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

VK Blocks shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.8★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 491 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #1 2 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Atarim – AI Agency for WordPress: Edit Pages, Fix Code, Update Plugins, SEO & Client Feedback 1K+ · 4.9★ (126) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Templately – Elementor & Gutenberg Template Library: 6500+ Free & Pro Ready Templates And Cloud! 300K+ · 5.0★ (383) wp.org #4 5 Translate WordPress with Weglot 2.0 – Multilingual AI Translation 50K+ · 4.8★ (1940) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Molongui Authorship – Author Boxes, Guest Authors & Co-Authors for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (158) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 FluentCommunity – Ultra-Fast High-Performance Social Network, Community, LMS & Online Courses 8K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Logo Slider – Logo Showcase, Logo Carousel, Logo Gallery and Client Logo Presentation 30K+ · 4.7★ (252) wp.org #10 11 Automatically Hierarchic Categories in Menu 2K+ · 4.6★ (13) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 Zephyr Project Manager 1K+ · 4.8★ (98) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Gutenberg Essential Blocks – Page Builder for Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns 100K+ · 4.9★ (216) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #16 2 too low 15 B BuddyPress Docs 6K+ · 4.4★ (35) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 weDocs: AI Powered Knowledge Base, Docs, Documentation, Wiki & AI Chatbot 5K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Sticky Chat Widget – Floating Chat Icons, Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, Email & Message Buttons 10K+ · 5.0★ (39) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer 500K+ · 4.5★ (81) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 GSheetConnector – WPForms Google Sheets Connector, Save WPForms Lite & PRO Entries to Database & Sheets 7K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 VK Blocks 100K+ · 4.8★ (6) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Table Of Contents Block 10K+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Image Gallery Block 4K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Easy Subscribe 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 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.