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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “deactivate all”

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

SMNTCS Deactivate Image Compression shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Polylang places #11 on merit, 4.7★ from 3004 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #1 2 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #2 3 Export All URLs 50K+ · 4.6★ (94) wp.org #3 4 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 4K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #4 5 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 ShopEngine – All-in-One Elementor WooCommerce Builder with eCommerce Templates & Woo Widgets 100K+ · 4.6★ (212) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #8 9 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #16 7 too low 10 ShopLentor – All-in-One WooCommerce Growth & Store Enhancement Plugin 80K+ · 4.5★ (278) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 Polylang 900K+ · 4.7★ (3004) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 WP Plugin Manager – Deactivate plugins per page 3K+ · 4.4★ (23) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 Payment Plugins for Stripe WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (303) wp.org #15 1 too low 15 Infinity23 (Formerly Tag Manager) – One Plugin That Replaces All The Rest 20K+ · 4.7★ (53) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (184) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 Secure Custom Fields 100K+ · 4.8★ (69) wp.org #23 6 too low 18 LWS Optimize – All-in-One Speed Booster & Cache Tools 20K+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Better Post & Filter Widgets for Elementor 4K+ · 5.0★ (18) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 All in One Invite Codes 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 8 too high 21 .html for all url 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 SMNTCS Deactivate Image Compression 1K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 15 too high 23 LocalWeb All In One 5K+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 ThemeHunk – Side Cart, Ajax Cart & Menu Cart for WooCommerce 5K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 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.