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

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 notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager places #5 on merit, 4.7★ from 1028 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #1 2 Custom Post Type UI 1M+ · 4.6★ (276) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #4 ↓1 5 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #10 5 too low 6 Manage Notification E-mails 100K+ · 4.8★ (56) wp.org #6 7 Custom Twitter Feeds – A Tweets Widget or X Feed Widget 100K+ · 4.8★ (401) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #8 9 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #9 10 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) wp.org #11 12 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Comment Reply Email Notification 3K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Advanced Custom Fields: Font Awesome Field 90K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #16 1 too low 16 Custom Post Types and Custom Fields creator – WCK 10K+ · 4.7★ (97) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 WP Notification Bell 700+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Easy Notification Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (16) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #23 4 too low 20 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 CodeKit – Custom Codes Editor 7K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #19 2 too high 22 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 Custom Order Status for WooCommerce 10K+ · 3.3★ (32) 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.