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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “custom debug”

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 “custom debug”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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

Debug Log Viewer shows at wp.org #6 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1233 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (418) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #4 5 Smash Balloon Social Post Feed – Simple Social Feeds for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (1511) wp.org #11 ↑1 6 too low 6 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Content Blocks (Custom Post Widget) 10K+ · 4.9★ (80) wp.org #8 9 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #23 11 too low 13 Advanced Cron Manager – debug & control 30K+ · 4.7★ (39) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 MetForm – Contact Form, Survey, Quiz, Conditional Forms, Form Templates & Custom Form Builder for Elementor 500K+ · 4.7★ (509) wp.org #18 ↓4 3 too low 16 Category Posts in Custom Menu 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 Debug This 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Additional Custom Emails & Recipients for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too high 19 FSM Custom Featured Image Caption 5K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #24 5 too low 20 Custom iFrame – Embed PDFs, Videos, and External Content in WordPress (Elementor & Gutenberg) 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too high 21 Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 15 too high 22 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23 Custom Payment Gateway for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 atec Debug 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 12 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.