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

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

Maestro: The Inline Admin Menu Editor shows at wp.org #10 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 30+ 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

Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite places #4 on merit, 4.3★ from 186 reviews, but shows at wp.org #8. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #1 2 Delete Duplicate Posts 10K+ · 4.8★ (153) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Jetpack Without Promotions 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Speed Booster Pack ⚡ PageSpeed Optimization Suite 8K+ · 4.3★ (186) wp.org #8 4 too low 5 Easy Hide Admin Menu Items 1K+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #5 6 Hide Dashboard Notifications 20K+ · 3.9★ (33) wp.org #6 7 Customize Admin 3K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 Zoho Forms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for Websites – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Order Forms & More 10K+ · 2.7★ (14) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 ArchiveMaster – Auto Archive and Export Old Orders for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Selfish Fresh Start 20+ · 4.0★ (5) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Webtaru Site Options and Login Security — · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 4 too low 12 DevDome Admin Cleaner: Remove Dashboard Widgets and Hide Menu Items 200+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Disable Admin Dashboard Notices – Get a distraction free WordPress backend 1K+ · 3.4★ (5) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Maestro: The Inline Admin Menu Editor 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 RationalCleanup 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 WPFalcons Menu Restrictions — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 CommentXpert – Private Comments, Comment Modifications, and Advanced Commenting Features 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 3 too high 18 Product Like and Hide — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 2 too low 19 Gyta Buyback | WooCommerce Product Trade-In and Buy Back System 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 DamaSoft FocusDesk — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↑1 1 too low 21 Arik Admin Screen Customizer — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 Trivha Admin Hider — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 ↓1 23 Clicks Order Archiver — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 24 Edminboost – Admin white label, Menu Editor, theme, topbar shortcuts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.