Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “current day”

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 “current day”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Posts On This Day shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

W3 Total Cache places #8 on merit, 4.4★ from 5420 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Shortcode for Current Date 10K+ · 5.0★ (116) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Current Year, Symbols and IP Shortcode 10K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #4 ↑13 1 too low 4 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #9 ↓2 4 too low 6 On This Day (by Room 34) 200+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Cart Notices for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (41) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #14 ↓2 5 too low 10 WP Simple Booking Calendar 10K+ · 4.8★ (227) wp.org #17 ↓5 7 too low 11 Delivery & Pickup Date Time for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (282) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #12 ↓3 13 WP Date and Time Shortcode 10K+ · 4.9★ (31) wp.org #13 ↑1 14 Assistant – Every Day Productivity Apps 4K+ · 4.9★ (15) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Filter Everything — WordPress & WooCommerce Filters 50K+ · 4.6★ (154) wp.org #22 ↓5 7 too low 16 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too low 17 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Safe SVG 1M+ · 4.9★ (79) wp.org #16 ↓2 2 too high 19 Booking Package 10K+ · 4.0★ (15) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 DayOfWeek 300+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Posts On This Day 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 ↓1 16 too high 22 C Current Age Plugin 60+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓1 2 too high 23 Extra Shipping Rates for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 LAPDI On This Day 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 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.