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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “data collection”

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 “data collection”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites shows at wp.org #9 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 4358 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 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #1 2 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #2 3 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #3 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too low 5 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Starter Sites & Templates by Neve 100K+ · 4.7★ (77) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too low 11 Smash Balloon Social Photo Feed – Easy Social Feeds Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4358) wp.org #16 ↓3 5 too low 12 WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346) wp.org #12 13 Lead Form Data Collection to CRM 400+ · 4.0★ (46) wp.org #5 ↓1 8 too high 14 Quiz Maker by AYS 20K+ · 4.9★ (601) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 PDF Invoices & Packing Slips for WooCommerce 300K+ · 5.0★ (1865) wp.org #15 16 GenerateBlocks 200K+ · 4.9★ (122) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 GTM4WP – A Google Tag Manager (GTM) plugin for WordPress 700K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #14 ↑2 3 too high 18 WPVR – 360 Panorama viewer and Virtual Tour Builder for WordPress 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #20 ↑4 1 too low 20 Cyr to Lat Enhanced 80K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #23 ↓1 3 too low 21 Chart Block – Visualize Data with Bar, Line, Pie Charts 1K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 bBlocks – Essential Gutenberg Blocks & Patterns Collection 700+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 RAEK First-Party Data Collection 200+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Section Collection – Add Ready-made Sections to Design Modern Websites 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 15 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.