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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “debug logging developer”

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 logging developer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

Debug Log Viewer shows at wp.org #4 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection places #8 on merit, 4.6★ from 3992 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #1 2 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #2 3 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #3 4 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Easy WP SMTP – WordPress SMTP and Email Logs: Gmail SMTP, Office 365, Outlook, Custom SMTP, and more 500K+ · 4.6★ (709) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too low 8 Kadence Security – Password, Two Factor Authentication, and Brute Force Protection 700K+ · 4.6★ (3992) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Simple Membership 40K+ · 4.6★ (475) wp.org #11 ↑1 12 Loco Translate 1M+ · 4.8★ (453) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #13 14 Easy Updates Manager 300K+ · 4.8★ (726) wp.org #24 ↓3 10 too low 15 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #5 11 too high 17 WP Coder – Insert & Manage Code Snippets 10K+ · 4.9★ (32) wp.org #20 ↓1 3 too low 18 Sky Login Redirect 2K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Search & Replace Everything – Quick and Easy Way to Find and Replace Text, Links 20K+ · 4.7★ (26) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 ActiveLayer Anti-Spam: Spam Protection for Forms & Comments 10K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #4 17 too high 22 DecaLog 1K+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↑7 6 too high 24 Developer Debug Mode 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 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.