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

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 “curly”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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 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

Selfish Fresh Start shows at wp.org #7 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Site Reviews places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 376 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Leaflet Map 30K+ · 4.9★ (58) wp.org #1 2 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Multilingual Contact Form 7 with Polylang 9K+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Child Theme Configurator 300K+ · 4.7★ (280) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Perfect Brands for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.7★ (414) wp.org #17 ↑1 12 too low 6 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #21 15 too low 7 wpuntexturize 900+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 R Raw HTML 10K+ · 4.3★ (33) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Prevent XSS Vulnerability 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #5 4 too high 10 Headers Security Advanced & HSTS WP 90K+ · 4.8★ (80) wp.org #20 10 too low 11 Disabler 900+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Make Tables Responsive 6K+ · 5.0★ (34) wp.org #22 ↓1 9 too low 14 MMWW 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓1 2 too high 15 Enhanced AJAX Add to Cart for WooCommerce 600+ · 5.0★ (11) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 Random Gallery 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #16 ↑1 17 Preserve Code Formatting 400+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #8 9 too high 18 Selfish Fresh Start 20+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Bumpcheck – PHP 8 Compatibility Check 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 8 too high 20 Rara One Click Demo Import 20K+ · 2.7★ (7) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Calendora Banners — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 6 too high 22 DadsFam Invoice Manager — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Corner Bracket Lover 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 GravityOps Search – Search and Display Gravity Forms Entries – Lite — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.