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

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 “deactivation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Classic Editor and Classic Widgets shows at wp.org #11 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 248 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 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #1 2 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #2 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 Disable Comments 1M+ · 4.7★ (281) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 J jQuery Updater 20K+ · 4.5★ (64) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Plugins Garbage Collector (Database Cleanup) 10K+ · 4.4★ (92) wp.org #8 ↓2 9 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #15 ↓4 6 too low 10 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #13 ↑2 3 too low 11 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Timeline Widget For Elementor (Elementor Timeline, Vertical & Horizontal Timeline) 70K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #19 ↓1 7 too low 13 301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too high 14 xSpeed Cache: AI-Powered Performance Hub with MCP, Caching & CDN 10K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #12 ↑7 2 too high 15 Simple 301 Redirects by BetterLinks – Easy Redirect Manager 100K+ · 3.8★ (162) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 Click to Chat – HoliThemes 600K+ · 4.8★ (131) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 PiWeb Live sales notification for WooCommerce 40K+ · 4.1★ (29) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 Add to Cart Redirect for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.9★ (101) wp.org #18 ↓4 19 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #16 ↓3 3 too high 20 Classic Editor and Classic Widgets 20K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 9 too high 21 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 Turn Off AI Features 400+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓3 2 too high 23 Timeline Block For Gutenberg 9K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 License For Envato 9K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.