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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “debug bar shortcodes”

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 “debug bar shortcodes”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Notice Bar shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 9 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 1281 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #1 2 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #2 3 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #3 4 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too low 6 Smart Slider 3 800K+ · 4.9★ (1125) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Advanced File Manager – Ultimate File Manager for WordPress And Document Library Solution 100K+ · 4.8★ (441) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #20 ↑1 11 too low 10 Debug This 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Members – Membership & User Role Editor Plugin 300K+ · 4.9★ (1281) wp.org #24 13 too low 12 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #13 ↑4 14 MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress 1M+ · 4.8★ (1497) wp.org #22 ↑1 8 too low 15 WPMasterToolKit (WPMTK) – All in one plugin 5K+ · 5.0★ (28) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 Events Manager – Calendar, Bookings, Tickets, Appointments and more! 60K+ · 4.2★ (551) wp.org #18 ↓2 1 too low 18 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 13 too high 19 Omnibus — show the lowest price 10K+ · 4.1★ (51) wp.org #21 ↑1 2 too low 20 FluentAuth – Login Security, Two-Factor Authentication, Passkeys & Social Login 10K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too high 21 Notice Bar 700+ · 3.6★ (9) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 My WP Customize Admin/Frontend 8K+ · 4.3★ (16) wp.org #17 ↑1 5 too high 23 FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 BugTrace – Debug Log Tool 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 16 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.