Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “debugging”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

KolorWeb Log Manager: cleaver debugging management shows at wp.org #8 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 50+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 2432 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Debugging 10K+ · 5.0★ (21) wp.org #1 2 FluentSMTP – WP Mail SMTP Plugin with Amazon SES, SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark, Cloudflare, toSend, Gmail and Any SMTP 700K+ · 4.8★ (410) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #6 3 too low 4 Redis Object Cache 500K+ · 4.5★ (179) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2432) wp.org #14 ↑3 8 too low 7 Mail logging & Catcher 20K+ · 4.9★ (108) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #4 ↑1 4 too high 9 Freesoul Deactivate Plugins – Disable plugins on individual WordPress pages 8K+ · 4.8★ (104) wp.org #13 ↓3 4 too low 10 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #10 ↑4 11 U Unique Headers 10K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #11 12 Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 ElasticPress Debugging Add-On 800+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #19 ↑2 3 too low 17 Email Log 80K+ · 4.2★ (43) wp.org #17 ↑2 18 NinjaScanner – Virus & Malware scan 40K+ · 4.0★ (36) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too low 20 KolorWeb Log Manager: cleaver debugging management 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 12 too high 21 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Hreflang Manager – Hreflang Implementation for International SEO 8K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 Server Info for Debugging 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓4 8 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.