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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “decrease text”

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 “decrease text”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 5 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

WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce shows at wp.org #6 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Options for Twenty Seventeen places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 57 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Email Templates Customizer and Designer for WordPress and WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.6★ (133) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Add Plain-Text Email 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Custom Order Status Manager for WooCommerce 30K+ · 4.7★ (117) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 Dark Mode – Improve Accessibility with AI Powered Dark Theme 20K+ · 4.5★ (391) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 CartBounty – Save and recover abandoned carts for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Qi Addons For Elementor 200K+ · 4.8★ (205) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too low 8 Bulk Edit Posts and Products in Spreadsheet 7K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too low 9 Min Max Control – Min Max Quantity & Step Control for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.7★ (79) wp.org #11 ↑5 2 too low 10 PPOM – Product Addons & Custom Fields for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.5★ (283) wp.org #14 ↑5 4 too low 11 Options for Twenty Seventeen 8K+ · 4.8★ (57) wp.org #18 7 too low 12 PVT – Product Variation Table for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (49) wp.org #21 ↑1 9 too low 13 Markup by Attribute for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (28) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too low 14 Offload, AI & Optimize with Cloudflare Images 1K+ · 4.9★ (33) wp.org #19 ↑1 5 too low 15 Accessibility Tool Kit: WP Accessibility checker plugin for WCAG, Section 508, ADA, EAA Compliance 1K+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 too high 16 PRENA – Product Pre-Orders for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↑2 8 too high 17 Swatchly – Product Variation Swatches for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.5★ (29) wp.org #17 18 WPC Free Shipping Bar for WooCommerce 3K+ · 4.2★ (13) wp.org #6 ↑1 12 too high 19 MONEI Payments for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Better Usability for WooCommerce 700+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 CHP Ads Block Detector 800+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Automated Stock Update Triggers for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 WPC Product Options for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.1★ (10) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 Bible SuperSearch 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 ↑1 12 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.