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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “customer role”

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

Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew shows at wp.org #4 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 2K+ 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

SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 289 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 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #1 2 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #2 3 Import and export users and customers 70K+ · 4.7★ (259) wp.org #3 4 Export and Import Users and Customers 50K+ · 4.8★ (442) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WP Customer Area 10K+ · 4.0★ (89) wp.org #5 6 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5040) wp.org #11 5 too low 7 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #18 11 too low 8 PiWeb Export Customers Users & Guest customer to CSV for WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.7★ (30) wp.org #8 9 Add Customer for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 SupportCandy – AI Customer Support Ticket System & Live Chatbot Agent 10K+ · 4.9★ (289) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 Fluent Support – Helpdesk & Customer Support Ticket System 10K+ · 4.6★ (69) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Hide Admin Bar Based on User Roles – Disable the WordPress Toolbar by Role or Capability 20K+ · 3.9★ (20) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Role Based Pricing for Woo by Meow Crew 2K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 10 too high 15 ELEX WooCommerce Role Based Pricing 2K+ · 4.1★ (14) wp.org #10 5 too high 16 Simple Client Dashboard 2K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 Product Prices by User Roles for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.4★ (14) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Membership & User Roles for WooCommerce (Automatic Role Changer) 400+ · 4.3★ (6) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Customer Notes for WooCommerce 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 Payment Gateways by User Roles for WooCommerce 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 22 Resolai – AI Chatbot for Customer Support 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 23 WPC Shop as a Customer for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Role and Customer Based Pricing for WooCommerce 40+ · 4.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.