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

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 tool”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

BugTrace – Debug Log Tool shows at wp.org #3 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 17 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #9 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Debug Log Manager Tool 3K+ · 5.0★ (22) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Query Monitor 200K+ · 4.9★ (470) wp.org #5 ↓3 2 too low 4 WP Synchro – The Ultimate WordPress Migration Tool 2K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 WP Crontrol 300K+ · 4.4★ (167) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too low 7 HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194) wp.org #10 ↓2 3 too low 8 Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #23 14 too low 10 Code Profiler – WordPress Performance Profiling and Debugging Made Easy 8K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #7 ↓3 3 too high 11 WP Mail Log 10K+ · 4.9★ (66) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Debug Log Manager – Conveniently Monitor and Inspect Errors 10K+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #17 ↓1 5 too low 13 Page scroll to id 100K+ · 4.9★ (225) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 JSM Show Post Metadata 10K+ · 5.0★ (12) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Product Import Export for WooCommerce – CSV Product Importer & Exporter 80K+ · 4.6★ (413) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Developer Debug Tools 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓3 7 too high 17 Affiliate Sales in Google Analytics and other tools 1K+ · 4.8★ (12) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Termageddon: Cookie Consent & Privacy Compliance 8K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↑2 3 too high 19 Hreflang Manager – Hreflang Implementation for International SEO 8K+ · 4.7★ (9) wp.org #19 20 BugTrace – Debug Log Tool 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 17 too high 21 KolorWeb Log Manager: cleaver debugging management 50+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Debug Log Viewer 1K+ · 4.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 JSM Show User Metadata 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 GetAutoSEO AI Tool 2K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓2 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.