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

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 “deliverables”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

PressPrimer Assignment – Homework Submission, Document Viewer & LMS Grading Workflows shows at wp.org #14 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 60+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 MailPoet – Newsletters, Email Marketing, and Automation 500K+ · 4.4★ (1435) wp.org #1 2 Delivery Date Time & Pickup for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.2★ (113) wp.org #2 3 Password Protected 300K+ · 4.4★ (142) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Drip – Marketing Automation for WooCommerce 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 DeBounce Email Validator 300+ · 3.9★ (16) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 Custom Library for Elementor – Custom Library for Elementor Templates, Elementor Patterns & Elementor Library 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 HelpGent – Video Funnels and Conversational Forms for WordPress 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 5 too low 8 WBD Pricing Tables – Gutenberg Pricing Table & Comparison Block 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 3 too high 9 DriveHub – Google Drive Integration | File Manager, Image Gallery & Media Library 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Magic API Email 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Academic Publications Showcase 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Auditizer – AI Website Audit & Optimization 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Paxelo – 7 SEO Content Deliverables, One Click — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓2 14 EasyDMARC Email Verification 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 1 too low 15 DixonSMTP for Outlook & Microsoft 365 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Mailster Kickbox 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Postcode Checkout – Address Validation | WooCommerce 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 PressPrimer Assignment – Homework Submission, Document Viewer & LMS Grading Workflows 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too high 19 NPC Manual Generator for Advanced Custom Fields 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 20 PhotoProof 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 MerchantKits Client Portal — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1 3 too low 22 NotifyCrew – Team reminders for Slack — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↓1 1 too high 23 WPMazic SEO Lite — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too high 24 PDFSmith – HTML to PDF Converter — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 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.