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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “datatables”

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 “datatables”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 5 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

Advanced Datatable – The Ultimate Data Table Plugin shows at wp.org #7 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 40+ 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

FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution places #5 on merit, 4.8★ from 250 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced Google reCAPTCHA 200K+ · 4.8★ (430) wp.org #1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #2 3 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #3 4 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #4 5 FluentCRM – Email Newsletter, Automation, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Optins, Leads, and CRM Solution 80K+ · 4.8★ (250) wp.org #13 ↑6 8 too low 6 Download Manager 100K+ · 4.1★ (1006) wp.org #14 ↓2 8 too low 7 Product Customer List for WooCommerce 9K+ · 4.9★ (75) wp.org #12 ↓2 5 too low 8 Views for WPForms – Display & Edit WPForms Entries on your site frontend 1K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 FluentSnippets – High-Performance Code Snippets, Header & Footer Code, Custom CSS & PHP Code Manager 50K+ · 4.7★ (78) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 Ninja Forms Views – Display & Edit Ninja Forms Submissions on your site frontend 1K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11 Reduce Unused CSS Solution with Critical CSS For WP 1K+ · 3.8★ (13) wp.org #5 ↑1 6 too high 12 Tablesome Table – Contact Form DB – WPForms, CF7, Gravity, Forminator, Fluent 7K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #11 ↑3 1 too high 13 Linguator – AI Auto Translate & Create Multilingual Sites 3K+ · 4.6★ (20) wp.org #9 ↑2 4 too high 14 CF7 Views – Complete Entry Management for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 4.6★ (17) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 FluentBoards – Project Management, Task Management, Goal Tracking, Kanban Board, and, Team Collaboration 6K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #23 ↑1 8 too low 16 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too low 17 Send Users Email – Email Subscribers, Email Marketing Newsletter 5K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 WP DataTable 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too high 19 SheetFusion – Sync Google Sheets Into Tables. No Row Limits, No API Keys. 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Advanced Datatable – The Ultimate Data Table Plugin 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 13 too high 21 Logify WP – Activity Log & User Audit Log 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↑1 1 too low 22 Table Editor 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 Sheet to Table Live Sync for Google Sheet 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Tablentor – Smart Table Builder for Elementor 1K+ · 4.0★ (2) 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.