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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “customer 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 “customer notification”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20.

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

Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 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

Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security places #9 on merit, 4.7★ from 5040 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #1 2 Chatway Live Chat – AI Chatbot, Customer Support, FAQ & Helpdesk Customer Service & Chat Buttons 30K+ · 5.0★ (775) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 Notification – Custom Notifications and Alerts for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #5 ↓2 1 too low 5 Notification for Telegram 4K+ · 4.9★ (71) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #11 ↑5 5 too low 7 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 Notification Master – Real-Time WordPress Notifications With Email, SMS, Webhooks & More 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #16 ↑2 7 too low 10 WP Customer Area 10K+ · 4.0★ (89) wp.org #8 2 too high 11 Notivo Notification for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.3★ (80) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 Noptin – Newsletter, New Post Notifications & Email Automation 10K+ · 4.5★ (120) wp.org #14 ↓4 2 too low 13 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too low 14 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Add Customer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #10 ↑3 5 too high 16 Web Push Notifications – Webpushr 10K+ · 4.7★ (63) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 WP Notification Bell 600+ · 4.9★ (12) wp.org #15 ↑8 2 too high 18 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #19 ↑5 1 too low 19 WPC Added To Cart Notification for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #13 ↓2 6 too high 20 Notiqoo – Order Notification & Customer Chat for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.8★ (19) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Push Notifications for WP – Self Hosted Web Push Notifications 6K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #7 14 too high 22 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 WPC Smart Notifications for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑2 6 too high 24 WPC Shop as a Customer for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.