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← Rankings

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

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 tools”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 of the top 20.

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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

BugTrace – Debug Log Tool shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 50+ 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

Query Monitor places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 470 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #1 2 Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Advanced Editor Tools 1M+ · 4.5★ (354) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Advanced WordPress Reset – Debug, Recover & Reset WP 10K+ · 4.9★ (1233) wp.org #14 ↑2 10 too low 5 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too low 6 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 5 too high 8 Debug 2K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Advanced Cron Manager – debug & control 30K+ · 4.7★ (39) wp.org #10 ↑1 11 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #22 11 too low 12 LWS Tools 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 7 too high 13 Simple History – Track, Log, and Audit WordPress Changes 300K+ · 4.9★ (491) wp.org #24 11 too low 14 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 LukasApps CAPTCHA tools for Contact Form 7 100K+ · 4.1★ (48) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too high 16 My Agile Privacy® – CMP, Cookie Consent & Privacy Tools 7K+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 Divi Gravity Forms (WP Tools) 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 S Site Health Tools 500+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 9 too high 19 Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #7 ↑1 12 too high 20 Payment Gateway for Authorize.net for WooCommerce 800+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↑6 4 too high 21 BugTrace – Debug Log Tool 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↑1 13 too high 22 LabelGrid Tools 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 5 too high 23 Advanced Tools for Gravity Forms 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Developer Debug Mode 50+ · 5.0★ (1) 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.