wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “deleted”
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 “deleted”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 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
Autoremove Attachments shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 3K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager places #5 on merit, 5.0★ from 1526 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Activity Log – Monitor User and Agent Changes 200K+ · 4.3★ (74)
wp.org #1 2 
WP Super Cache 1M+ · 4.3★ (1346)
wp.org #2 3 
WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228)
wp.org #3 4 
WP-Sweep 100K+ · 4.7★ (138)
wp.org #4 5 Folders – Unlimited Folders to Organize Media Library Folder, Pages, Posts, File Manager 90K+ · 5.0★ (1526)
wp.org #10 5 too low 6 
Anti-Spam, Spam FireWall by CleanTalk 200K+ · 4.8★ (3221)
wp.org #11 5 too low 7 
User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288)
wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too high 8 
bbPress 100K+ · 3.9★ (343)
wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 
WP Reset 300K+ · 4.8★ (1014)
wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 
Plugins Garbage Collector (Database Cleanup) 10K+ · 4.4★ (92)
wp.org #8 2 too high 11 
WP Activity Log 300K+ · 4.7★ (490)
wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too low 12 
ReCrawler 3K+ · 5.0★ (11) thin reviews
wp.org #5 7 too high 13 
Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779)
wp.org #19 ↓7 6 too low 14 
Optimize Database after Deleting Revisions 60K+ · 4.7★ (181)
wp.org #16 ↑1 2 too low 15 
Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51)
wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 
Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572)
wp.org #23 ↑1 7 too low 17 Autoremove Attachments 3K+ · 5.0★ (15) thin reviews
wp.org #9 8 too high 18 
WP Bulk Delete 90K+ · 4.6★ (131)
wp.org #20 2 too low 19 H HTTP 410 (Gone) responses 4K+ · 4.6★ (21) thin reviews
wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 
301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28)
wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 
Print, PDF & Email by PrintFriendly 20K+ · 3.8★ (237) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #21 22 
Auto Delete Post – Ultimate plugin for deleting a post automatically 300+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #22 23 
Remove Broken Images 700+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 
Premmerce Redirect Manager 500+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
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.